


The Statue

by xxawalkinwonderlandxx



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: And he really does not know how to deal with it, Bellamy has a soulmate, Bellamy is also an idiot, Bellamy might freak out a little, Clarke is a statue, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Instagram Prompt, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 66,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23040298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxawalkinwonderlandxx/pseuds/xxawalkinwonderlandxx
Summary: There has been a statue in the middle of Arkadia since before Bellamy was born, so he's grown up hearing the same story. If her soulmate touches her hand, then she'll turn human again. He always thought it was ridiculous since soulmates didn't exist, but that didn't keep Octavia, or his friends, or anyone else for that matter from holding the statue's hand. Then one night, everything he thought he knew goes out the window when the statue comes to life after he holds her hand. What the hell is he supposed to do now?
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 279
Kudos: 405





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy turns a statue into a person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo...this is a story I've been working on for about a year and a half and one that I've been wanting to post for nearly that long! I want to thank Hopesjourney for being a wonderful beta and helping me through my writing blocks and giving me the pushes that I needed to keep writing! 
> 
> She's amazing and if you haven't read any of her stories, then I definitely suggest checking them out! :) <3
> 
> And shoutout to swainslake on Twitter for finally getting me to post all of my WIPs :)
> 
> And also a shoutout to writing.prompt.s on Instagram for the inspiration (who is also responsible for Hail to the king, Baby being a thing(: )

Everyone knows the story of the statue at the center of town square. It’s a story that’s told on playgrounds and twisted around campfires to make it seem more sinister. In the center of town square is a marble statue of a girl, pointing up towards the sky with one hand while the other seems stretched out, waiting for someone to take it. The detail that the sculptor put into this piece is really something. The marble almost looks _soft_ and you can see the veins in the girl’s hands and how youthful her face looks. 

The story is one that Bellamy grew up hearing and it was one he in turn told Octavia. _The statue in the middle of town is special. Legend has it, if she touches the hand of her soulmate, she will become human._ Octavia thought the story was romantic, of course she would, but Bellamy saw it for what it was: a silly rumor. Thousands, if not millions, of people have gone up to the statue and taken a picture with it but nothing has ever happened. Bellamy was never one to believe in stories like that, it just wasn’t how the world worked.

“Come on, it says that we have to get a picture with the statue!” Jasper calls from over his shoulder. A stupid scavenger hunt for their frat that’s sent them all over the city is now having them end in the town square.

“I guess it wouldn’t be as easy as using our old pictures, would it?” Murphy grumbles from beside Bellamy, furiously typing away on his phone.

“Nope, it says that everyone has to have their picture taken with the polaroid camera and they all have to be turned in at the end.”

“That’s not weird,” Miller mutters under his breath. Bellamy snorts.

“Right, what the hell are they going to do with two dozen pictures of boys holding hands with a statue?”

“Make fun of us for it?” Murphy offers. He puts his phone in his pocket then pulls out his pack of cigarettes, putting one in his mouth and lighting it. “This is all such bullshit.”

“You were the one who convinced us to join,” Bellamy points out. 

“Yeah, because I thought it was going to be _fun_ , this is just idiotic.” Murphy blows the smoke out and nods towards the statue. “I’ll go first.”

Monty readies the polaroid camera while Murphy positions himself. He takes the statue’s hand and gives his best _I’d rather be anywhere fucking else than here_ face. “Okay, got it,” Monty calls as he catches the picture coming out of the camera. “Who goes next?”

“Ooh, me!” Jasper grins and runs up to the statue just as Murphy gets out of the way. He takes his goggles out of his back pocket and puts them on then grabs the statue’s hand, grinning at where the statue is pointing.

“Perfect, Jasper.” Monty grins and Jasper runs over to take his picture. “Okay, who next? Miller?”

“How about you go, Green?” Miller walks forward and takes the camera from Monty. 

“Awesome,” Monty smiles then runs over to take the statue’s hand, looking pensive as he looks up towards the sky.

Bellamy has to keep himself from groaning. He’s glad his friends are having fun with this, but it’s not like they haven’t taken pictures like this before; Jasper made it a point to hold the statue’s hand every year and he was excited when he was finally taller than it. Then again, everyone was taller than the statue. 

“Okay, Miller, you go next.” Monty bounds over and takes the camera back. Miller just takes the statue’s hand and shrugs, waiting for Monty to take the picture. “Alright, there we go.”

“Your turn, dad.” Jasper grins from his spot on the edge of the fountain and Bellamy sighs. Since Monty and Jasper were around while Bellamy grew up practically raising Octavia, Jasper started jokingly calling him dad. That, and the fact that he was always trying to keep them all out of trouble.

“What would the damage be if I just said no?” Bellamy groans.

“Dude, it’s just a picture, suck it up.” Murphy calls from his place next to Jasper. “The faster you get this picture, the faster we can get this done.”

“He has a point,” Miller agrees as he walks back to join Monty and Bellamy rolls his eyes.

“Fine.”

“What’s your deal with being so against taking a picture with a statue?” Miller asks once Bellamy reaches the statue’s side.

“Just never saw the appeal of it.” Bellamy shrugs.

“Well, then let’s put you out of your misery.” Miller smirks and Monty raises the camera.

“Okay, Bellamy, ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Uh, Bellamy, you need to actually hold the statue’s hand.” Monty points out.

 _Oh my god._ “Alright, fine, is this good?” Bellamy grabs the statue’s hand and stares at the camera. 

“Yeah, that’s great, alright, one, two—”

Bellamy waits for the flash to go off, but it never does. His friend’s faces start to morph into ones of shock. 

“What? Is there something on my face?” Bellamy is close to saying screw it and taking whatever ‘ _punishment_ ’ the fraternity can come up with. His friends don’t answer him, they just keep staring. “Seriously, what the hell is—”

“Um, Bellamy…” Jasper’s voice is shaky and he removes his goggles, his eyes wide. 

“Look.” Monty nods towards the statue and Bellamy can feel his stomach drop.

Bellamy takes a deep breath then turns towards the statue. The pure white that she had been before is starting to change to something with more color. What’s supposed to be her hair starts looking more golden, and her white cheeks begin to turn pink. Her eyes are closed and Bellamy can see individual eyelashes beginning to take form, too. 

“What the—” Bellamy stares at the girl coming alive next to him. She starts to sway on her feet, her eyes still closed, and before he can release his hand from hers, she falls over and he positions himself to where she falls into his chest. 

He sinks down to the ground, still holding her in his arms. _She’s beautiful._ Her cheeks are pink and there’s a beauty mark over her top lip, and her golden hair falls in waves towards the ground. He hesitates for a second before leaning forward to see if she’s breathing and, to his surprise, she is. They’re slow and they’re even, and it seems like she’s just in a really deep sleep.

“It’s true.” Monty materializes beside him. “The story was true.”

“Holy shit.” Murphy crouches down next to him too.

“Is she alive?” Bellamy glances up at Jasper whose eyes are as wide as saucers. “She isn’t dead, is she?”

“No, she’s breathing.” Bellamy turns his attention back towards _her_.

“Princess of The Sky,” Miller whispers.

“What?” Bellamy turns towards his friend.

“The plaque, it says ‘Princess of The Sky’.” Miller points towards the plaque on the ground in front of where the girl had been standing. Bellamy turns back towards the girl in his arms and feels the corners of his mouth quirking upwards.

“The Princess of The Sky,” he murmurs. She sighs and her face scrunches up slightly before she turns her head to the side. “Well, let’s get you into a bed.”

Bellamy hooks one arm under her legs and braces the other behind her back, bringing her with him as he stands up. Murphy positions her arms so they aren’t sticking out before Bellamy sets off towards the truck that they had been driving around in. Monty opens the door to the backseat for him as Jasper crawls in from the other side to help Bellamy lay her down on the seat. 

He goes to the other side of the truck so the girl’s head can rest in his lap and Monty takes her feet in his lap. Miller gets into the driver’s seat, Murphy gets shotgun, and Jasper wedges himself on the floorboard next to Bellamy and Monty’s feet. 

The girl sleeps the entire ride back to the guys’ house and Bellamy can’t keep himself from looking at her. She looks so peaceful despite the fact that she had been a statue only twenty minutes before. _How the hell do you deal with something like this?_ Bellamy’s heart starts pounding in his chest at everything that could happen once she wakes up. 

_How old is she?_

_Does she know how to speak?_

_How the fuck did this happen?_

Bellamy takes a few deep breaths, trying to stave off a panic attack he’s sure is trying to fight its way to the surface. _What do I do?_ The ride to the house seems to last forever, but once they get there the guys’ help him bring her inside. He opts for laying her down on his bed, not sure if that’s really the best decision; he’s just doing this as he goes. _I’m totally screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would LOVE your feedback! As I said, this is the story I was really excited about posting, so I want to hear everything that y'all think! 
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)
> 
> So I already have the first 7 chapters written and since the first chapter was so short, here’s chapter 2!

I realized I never posted this! Here's the prompt:

* * *

There’s no guide book on how to deal with your supposed soulmate who used to be a statue; no steps you should take, no protocols. Bellamy doesn’t even _believe_ in soulmates, so this must be the world’s idea of some big cosmic joke. _Right?_ Bellamy groans and runs his hands over his face. The girl hasn’t moved and he’s taken up a spot next to his bed in his desk chair.

Once they had gotten her comfortable in the bed, Jasper and Monty ran towards Monty’s room to do some more research into the story that surrounded the statue, Murphy started cooking dinner, and Miller hovered by the doorway as if he was worried someone would try to break into the room.

It’s been two hours and the statue girl still hasn’t moved. She’s still breathing though, which is all Bellamy can hope for right now. _I wonder if she has a name_. He doesn’t like just calling her ‘the girl’ since she seems as alive as anyone, but he doesn’t know what else he can call her until she wakes up to tell him her name. _What if she doesn’t speak English? She couldn’t have gotten an education while she was a statue._

“Bellamy!” Monty and Jasper’s voices sound from down the hallway before they both pop their heads into his doorway.

“I think we found something.” Monty holds up a stack of papers. Bellamy motions for them to come in and Jasper sits on the floor while Monty hops onto the desk.

“Please tell me you found a guide book.” Bellamy mumbles as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“Uh, no,” Monty starts sifting through some of the paper, “but we did find that there’s more to the story.”

“There is?” Bellamy tears his eyes away from the princess’ sleeping form and looks at Monty. “I thought it was just ‘she touches her soulmate and wakes up’?”

“That’s the jist of everything, yeah, but there’s a backstory to how she became a statue.”

“Alright, then let’s hear it.” Bellamy nods towards the papers in Monty’s hand, telling him to start reading, as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in the chair. They don’t have anything to go on besides what they learned when they were kids.

Monty clears his throat. “The Princess was born during the time of soulmates, before many wrote them off as unimportant. She didn’t believe that people had soulmates, it was just something people said to explain why they got along so well with another person,” Monty glances at Bellamy with his eyebrows raised. _Yeah, yeah keep going_. “She went against the beliefs of everyone when she chose to love a boy who was not her match, causing her to be cursed until the right one came along. Now, she waits in a dreamlike state for the right one to come along, though many believe they never will.”

“That’s it? Just ‘she was born during the time of soulmates and got cursed because she loved someone who wasn’t hers’?” Bellamy stops leaning back in his chair and looks at Monty. “Is there nothing else?”

“There’s speculation as to how long she’s supposedly been a statue, but nothing else story wise.”

“Well do you know she got the name ‘Princess of The Sky’?”

“That’s where the soulmate thing comes into play, too.” Jasper pipes up from his position on the floor. “You know, ‘our fate is written in the stars’?” Bellamy shrugs. “Basically, she’s looking up at the sky, trying to find where her other half is.”

“That sounds like something Octavia would reblog on her Tumblr or something,” Bellamy sighs. The girl lying on the bed before him looks normal enough, she’s wearing a plain navy blue dress and her hair is a normal color. With his luck, she’d wake up speaking a completely different language. “How old is she supposed to be?”

“She’s supposed to be around eighteen.”

“ _Around_ eighteen?” Bellamy gawks. “I’m almost twenty!”

“Well, she can tell us when she wakes up.” Monty shrugs.

“If she wakes up,” Bellamy mumbles then looks back towards the princess.

Jasper takes some of the papers from Monty. “No one knows when she really came about, she just sort of showed up one day.” He continues flipping through them until he lands on a page that looks like an old newspaper article. “Here.” Bellamy takes it.

“Mysterious statue shows up in the center of town square. No one knows where she came from, but there was a note attached around her neck that read ‘a touch from her soulmate will wake her’.” Bellamy quirks an eyebrow then looks at his friends. “This is nearly thirty years old.”

“Yeah, so she hasn’t been around long. The story associated with her just blew up into something big enough to attract a bunch of people to our city.” Monty mumbles, flipping through the papers still in his hands.

“But it said she came from ‘the time of soulmates’, what exactly does that mean? I don’t think anyone back in the eighties and nineties really thought much about them.”

“I don’t know man,” Miller calls from the doorway, “we’ve both seen the movies from those times, they’re classics. Maybe that was the time for believing in soulmates.”

“I finished cooking an hour ago, if none of you eat that food I’m never cooking again.” Murphy appears in the doorway next to Miller with a bottle of water in his hands. “I figured she could use this when she wakes up.” He throws the bottle of water towards Bellamy.

“Thanks.” Bellamy is slightly taken back by how considerate Murphy is being, but he sets the bottle of water on the nightstand.

“Go get something to eat, Bake, I’ll watch her.” Miller motions for Bellamy to get out of the chair, but Bellamy hesitates. _Do I leave her?_ She hasn’t moved since they laid her down and he doubts she’s going to move anytime soon, so, reluctantly, he gets out of the chair and follows the other guys out of the room.

Murphy had made macaroni and cheese, chicken, and green beans for dinner. All cheap, and all pretty delicious if you ask Bellamy. He practically moans as he fills his empty stomach. Running around the city for that scavenger hunt didn’t really leave them time for eating, and since it’s getting close to midnight now, he hasn’t eaten in about seven hours.

None of them talk while they eat, and Bellamy is grateful for the fact that even though he’s anxious and pretty stressed out, he’s still able to eat. _Soulmate. You have to be fucking kidding_. How was he supposed to be this girl’s soulmate? He doesn’t even know her! She’s been a statue he’s looked at his entire life, never did he believe that she would actually turn out to be _real_. He’d be lying if he said that this whole situation didn’t scare the living hell out of him. He’s only ever had one really successful relationship in his _life_ and even that ended up in flames.

As Bellamy rinses off his plate, he thinks back to the girls he’s been with. There was Roma at the beginning of high school, and he thinks he may have loved her, just not in the way she claimed to have loved him. Then there was Gina, she was slightly older than him and he’s pretty sure that what they had was love, but he felt like he couldn’t be the person that she needed him to be. She needed someone who could give her the life she always dreamed of having, but it wasn’t something Bellamy would’ve been capable of. What she wanted just wasn’t what he wanted.

“Raven just texted me, asked if she could come over.” Murphy mumbles around a mouth full of macaroni.

“No.” Bellamy calls over his shoulder and he can hear the sound of a metal utensil hitting a plate.

“No way in hell, you tell her no.”

“She texted you!”

“And I’m not about to die because you’re the one that doesn’t want her over here!”

“Maybe Raven coming over would be a good thing.” Monty says from his place at the island and everyone turns to look at him. “That girl is in a house surrounded by guys, even if you are supposed to be her soulmate, Bellamy, having a girl here might help.”

Bellamy rests his hands on his hips looks around the room at his friends. _There’s no use fighting this, Monty is probably right_. “Fine, Raven can come over—” A chorus of cheers erupts around the room, “ _but_ , we have to figure out the best way to tell her what the hell is going on.”

“You do realize we can’t lie, right?” Murphy leans back in his chair, the front two legs lifting off the floor. “It’s Raven, she’ll see right through us.”

“He has a point,” Jasper agrees.

“We lie, she calls us out,” Monty starts, “we tell her the truth, she thinks we’re insane.”

“I think we’re insane and I was there.” Murphy points out.

“Bellamy.” Miller’s voice brings Bellamy out of his thoughts and he looks over at his friend. “She’s mumbling.”

Bellamy sprints to his bedroom and takes the seat next to the bed. Beads of sweat have started to form on her forehead and her face is scrunched together like she’s having a nightmare. Her hands are gripping the sheets on the bed and her lips are moving but Bellamy can’t make anything out.

Tentatively, Bellamy reaches out to take her left hand, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of it. “Shhh…” he coos. “It’s okay, Princess. You’re okay.” He continues whispering to her and running his finger across her knuckles. Her grip on the sheets loosen and he slips his hand into hers. He watches as her features begin to soften and her head lulls to the side. _She’s still asleep_.

“I couldn’t make out anything other than _mom_ and _dad_.” Miller comes to stand next to him.

“Can someone get me a rag?” Bellamy hears someone head out the room, but he doesn’t bother to check who. He’s too focused on the girl.

Jasper slides back into the room, handing over a damp washrag that Bellamy uses to dab at the sweat on the girl’s forehead. Her eyebrows crease together and she moves her head to the other side, causing Bellamy to still his motions, but she’s still asleep. _Really, how can she sleep so much? Then again, I don’t know what it’s like to be a statue._

Everyone stands around the room until a knock comes from the front door and Murphy goes to open it. Bellamy can hear voices coming from down the hall, but the panic that’s beginning to rise in his chest causes him to not really listen to what they’re saying. _I have a soulmate. This is someone I’m supposed to connect with better than anyone else. Do they really expect me to love her? No, that’s not right._ Bellamy takes a deep breath. _Soulmates don’t have to be romantic_ , he reminds himself, _but they most often are._

“What the fuck is going on now?” Raven’s voice pulls Bellamy out of his head and he takes another deep breath. “Who the hell is that?” Raven’s voice is closer now and Bellamy turns to see her standing just inside his room. She’s staring, wide-eyed, at the girl on the bed. “Please tell me y’all didn’t kidnap someone?” Raven groans as she looks at the boys scattered across the room.

“Hey!”

“Whoa, whoa.”

“That hurt.”

“Let’s take a fucking second before you accuse us of something like that, Reyes.”

“We didn’t kidnap her, Raven,” Bellamy mumbles, turning back to the princess laying on his bed.

“This night just keeps getting better and better.” Raven sighs, hopping onto Bellamy’s desk. “First, I can’t get my statue picture because someone thought it’d be a fun joke to steal it, bye bye to winning, and now my boys have a practically comatose girl in one of their beds.” She runs her hands over her face. “I need a drink.”

“Now, you are speaking my language, Reyes.” Murphy pushes off from the wall. “Drinks all around, be right back.” He slips out of the room and disappears down the hall.

“What do you mean you couldn’t get a picture with a statue?” Bellamy turns towards his friend, trying to control his racing heart.

“You know, the girl statue in the town square? Had to get a picture with her before the night was over so you can imagine how pissed I am that she wasn’t there.”

“Do you know what happened to her?” Monty asks.

“No idea,” Raven shrugs, “Wick thinks someone stole her.”

“She was pure marble, Raven, who could just pick her up and steal her?” Bellamy can feel Raven narrow her eyes at him.

“You’re being very defensive, Blake, what are you hiding?” Bellamy forces himself to look at Raven, meeting her hard gaze straight on. There must be something in his expression because her eyes narrow even more and she cocks her head to the side. He glances back towards the girl lying on his bed and Raven does the same. It’s like Bellamy can hear the gears turning in her head.

“Bellamy—”

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

“You should know by now that I’ll listen to anything once.”

“Drinks!” Murphy walks in carrying a tray with six drinks on it. He places it on Bellamy’s dresser and everyone moves to grab one. Well, everyone except Bellamy, so Raven grabs his and hands it to him.

“Alright, now care to explain what’s going on?” Raven takes up the spot on the desk again and stares the guys around her.

“Okay, so you know the story of the statue, right?” Monty asks and Raven nods her head.

“Everyone knows the story, she’s waiting for her soulmate, hold her hand and she turns human, blah blah blah, and?”

“Well, it’s not just a story.” Jasper chimes in. “It’s real, like really real.” He grins.

“You expect me to believe that this girl,” she nods towards the sleeping girl on the bed, “is the same one from the statue?”

“That’s exactly what we’re saying.” Miller set his drink down on the dresser and folds his arms. “We don’t have any reason to lie about this.”

“But you don’t have any proof?” Raven raises her eyebrows and looks around the room.

“Catch.” Murphy throws something towards Raven and she catches it with one hand.

“Your phone?” She holds it up and stares at Murphy.

“Proof.” Murphy grins and nods towards the phone. “Feast your eyes upon the best proof you could ask for, obtained by yours truly.”

Raven looks down at the phone and opens it. Her eyebrows knit together for a second as she looks at the screen and sets her drink down, using her other hand to enlarge the photo and inspect it. She doesn’t say anything for a while and with each passing second, Bellamy’s heart beats louder and louder, drowning out any noise around him.

“Holy fucking shit,” Raven whispers. She looks up from the phone, her face having gone a shade paler. “What—how— _you?_ ” Her eyes settle on Bellamy. “ _You’re_ her soulmate? You don’t even believe in soulmates!”

“I know.” Bellamy sighs. He’s still holding her hand, and she still looks so peaceful. “You got a picture?” Bellamy turns his gaze towards Murphy.

“Well no one else was.” Murphy says simply.

Raven hands the phone over to Bellamy and he looks at it. The bottom of the girl’s body still looks white, but her face has color in it, and he can see her golden hair. The other thing that draws his attention is the way he’s looking at her. It’s a mixture of shock and amazement, and he hadn’t realized he was looking at her like that.

The phone gets passed around and everyone else smiles as they look at it. When Jasper gets ahold of it, everyone else’s phone go off simultaneously, even Bellamy’s. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and looks at the text, already knowing what it is. The picture stares back at him and he can feel the corners of his mouth turning upwards. Despite the anxiety that he feels associated with this whole situation, he kind of likes the picture.

“So, what do you know about her other than what we already know?” Raven asks, nodding towards the princess.

Bellamy leaves it up to Monty and Jasper to tell her what they had gone over earlier, and by the end of it Raven is pacing around Bellamy’s room, all the guys having moved to give her space. If it’s one thing they’ve learned about Raven over the past couple of years, she likes having room to move while she thinks.

“What are you going to do?” Raven stops moving and turns to look at Bellamy.

“Wait for her to wake up,” Bellamy murmurs, resting his chin on the mattress.

“And after that?” Raven raises her eyebrows.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t _know_?”

“No, Raven, I don’t know. There’s nothing on this sort of thing. It’s not like I can just search up ‘how to deal with someone who was once a statue’, this isn’t me needing to find an answer to a damn math problem.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“No one outside of this room.” Miller is standing back by the doorway, looking like a guard on duty.

“Okay, well, people are going to notice that she’s not in town square anymore when the sun comes up.”

“Do you think they’ll make the connection between her and the statue?” Jasper asks, worried.

“Everyone has pictures with the statue, but I highly doubt any of them would make the connection between a slab of marble and a living, breathing girl. No one actually believed the story with her, you know.”

“Octavia always did.” Bellamy sighs.

“But she’s a teenager, I’m sure a lot of girls wanted to believe in a story like that,” Raven puts a reassuring hand on Bellamy’s shoulder. “You’re not alone with this, Bellamy.”

“Yeah, man,” Miller smiles, “we got your back.”

“I’m just here to see if this crashes and burns,” Murphy grins.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Murphy.” Bellamy gives his friend a half smile.

“You have us, too.” Jasper and Monty smile at him.

“I know, guys, thanks.”

The others start talking about what they should do if someone asks where the girl is from and a cover story for her, but Bellamy tunes them all out. His mind is still trying to come up with ways to talk to her once she wakes up, but all of them end up being kind of cringey in his head.

At some point, Monty and Jasper disappeared then came back holding a mountain of blankets and pillows, saying that they wanted to be here for when she woke up. Murphy, Miller, and Raven did the same, but Bellamy stayed in the chair beside the bed. He lets his mind drift to all of the other times when he had a chance to hold her hand but didn’t. _Years._ Though, the fact that it happened when there was no else around is probably the best case scenario because now they don’t have anyone trying to bust down their door wanting to interrogate her or run tests on her. _It needs to stay that way_.

Eventually, all of his friends start passing out, one by one, until Bellamy is the only one awake. He knows he should get some sleep, but he doesn’t want to miss anything. He lays his head on his arm, his face angled to where he can still see her face and her hand is still in his. _She looks so peaceful_.

Her fingers twitch in his and he sits up. He watches as her eyelids start to move and when she opens them, he can’t look away. Her eyes are piercing, and blue, and he feels like she’s staring into his soul as she looks at him. She holds his gaze for a while before looking around the room, coming to rest on the water bottle beside the bed. She goes to say something but closes her mouth, still looking at the water. Bellamy lets go of her hand and stands, uncapping the bottle and moving to support her head while he puts the bottle to her lips. She looks up at him as she drinks and when she’s done, she closes her eyes.

Bellamy thinks she’s going to go back to sleep again, so he settles back in the chair with his hands in his lap. But she opens them and she moves her fingers a little, enough for him to get the message. He brings his hand back up and holds her hand again, a slight smile making its way onto her face before she drifts off.

He stays awake for even longer that night, wondering if she’s going to wake up again, but after a while he finds that sleep is trying too hard to pull him under. He rests his head on the bed again, looking up at her. She’s the last thing he sees as he gets pulled under into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...any ideas on how this is going to go?? I’ve loved reading all of your comments!!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke wakes up

Bellamy wakes up to the feeling of someone touching his hair and he opens his eyes. The princess is looking at him, her blue eyes a little brighter than they had been the night before, and her hand stills in his hair. She looks shy, but Bellamy can’t blame her. He gives her a half smile before he yawns and he can see the corners of her mouth turn upwards as she brushes a few curls from his forehead before she takes her hand away. _She’s beautiful._ He reaches out and takes her hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles. He wants her to feel safe.

He sits up and looks over at the water bottle which is now empty and he smiles. “Would you like more water?”

She blinks at him and flits her eyes from the bottle to him before nodding. _So she understands me._ _I think_. Bellamy nods his head and takes the empty water bottle, heading towards his door and trying his best to not wake anyone else up. When he opens the door, he hears his bed creak and turns around. She’s sitting up now with her knees pulled towards her, her eyes wide as she looks at everyone around the room.

“It’s okay, they’re asleep and I’ll be right back.” He whispers and she looks around at everyone before nodding her head and then resting her chin on her knees.

He jogs to the cupboard and pulls out two more bottles of water, _just in case_ , then makes his way back to his room. She’s still in his bed, but she’s grabbed his old mythology book off his nightstand and is flipping through it, her mouth turned up in a smile. She looks up when she hears him enter and Bellamy’s heart does a weird little flip flop when he looks at her. He hands her one of the bottles before placing the second on the nightstand and sitting back down in the chair.

“In case you need more.” She gives him a grateful smile before uncapping her bottle and downing half of it. _Well, it makes sense that she’s thirsty. I bet being a statue for thirty years didn’t help with dry mouth._ When she lowers the bottle she gives him a sheepish look before putting the cap back on. She thumbs the pages of the book in her lap before turning to look at him again.

“So, you’re him?” Her voice is soft with a slight accent and Bellamy feels as if his heart is going to pop out of his chest. “My soulmate?”

“Yeah.” Now it’s Bellamy’s turn to be shy. He ducks his head and rubs his hand over the back of his neck. “Sorry if you’re disappointed.” It’s meant to be a joke, he knows that a lot of people find him attractive, and his heart soars a little when she smiles.

“I’m not disappointed,” she says and her grin widens as she runs her eyes over him, “yet.” He barks out a laugh. _So, the princess has a sense of humor._ He realizes that her accent is English and it makes him wonder how she even got to Arkadia.

“I’m Bellamy.” He holds out his hand for her to shake.

“Clarke.” She shakes his hand and he’s momentarily stunned at how small her hand is compared to his.

“Now I don’t have to keep calling you princess in my head.” He smirks and he can see her blush. She moves the book back to the nightstand and huddles under the covers, laying on her side so she can look at him.

“What year is it?”

“2019.” He whispers it and her eyes go wide and he feels something sting in his chest. _She didn’t think it had been that long_. “I’m sorry, I know that this is probably a lot for you to take in.”

“It’s—” Her voice is barely above a whisper and he can see her eyes begin to shine. “ _Oh my god_.” She clamps her hand over her mouth as a sob racks her body and Bellamy is frozen in his spot.

He’s had to calm Octavia down a lot throughout his life whenever she cried, even his mom sometimes, but he isn’t very good with people who aren’t his family. He sits there for a second, unsure of what he should do, when he reaches out to rub her arm; murmuring that it’s going to be okay. To his surprise, she keeps relatively quiet while she cries, probably because she didn’t want to wake anyone else up, but he feels bad. If it were him, he’d probably want to scream or do _something_ to let his anger and frustration out rather than just trying to be quiet.

After a while when it seems that she’s cried herself out a little, he speaks again. “I know thirty years is a long time, but—”

“Thirty years?” Her eyebrows knit together and she’s looking at him like he just said the sky is pink.

“Yeah, didn’t—” he lets out a breath. _Now I’m getting confused_. “Didn’t you get turned into a statue back in like the eighties?”

Her eyebrows knit together even more. “I was turned back in 1807.”

“What?” _What!_ She nods her head slowly. “You don’t sound like you’re from that time.” Bellamy is shell-shocked and dumbfounded. He thought it was bad enough that she had been a statue for nearly thirty years but now he knows it’s over two hundred.

“Being a statue, well—” she takes a deep breath and starts fiddling with the edge of his blanket, “with being a statue, things are weird. It was like I was dreaming but I wasn’t. Sometimes I could hear things going on around me, but other times I don’t remember anything. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but I can’t really explain it.” She mumbles at the end and Bellamy’s heart goes out to her.

“You only showed up in our city about thirty years ago,” Bellamy explains, “so I just assumed that was when…you know.” She doesn’t look at him but she nods her head. “Do you remember being moved?”

“No,” her voice is low. “Like I said, I can’t remember everything that happened to me while I was gone.” The way she says _gone_ makes him want to reach out and hug her. _She’s spent so long knowing that there’s things going on around her, but she was never able to do anything_.

“Well, you’re back now,” Bellamy keeps his voice soft. “You’re here and I’m going to help you with this.” She gives him a small smile and lets go of the blanket to reach out and touch his hand.

“You’re very kind.” She rubs her small thumb over his fingers, sending a shot of electricity up his arm.

“What are soulmates for?” He gives her a smile and he’s kind of surprised at how easily that sentence came out.

She looks down at their hands and bites down on her lower lip, her brows knitting together. “Don’t take this the wrong way but,” she brings her eyes back to his, “I never believed in soulmates.”

Bellamy chuckles. “Oh, I didn’t either. Believe me.” He leans back in his chair and runs his free hand through his hair. “But, I guess now we can see that we were both wrong.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She smiles at him and he can feel himself smile a little wider too. _She’s stunning when she smiles_.

“So what—”

“Are you talking to yourself?” Murphy grumbles from his spot on the floor by Bellamy’s desk and Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Because if you are do you mind shutting the fuck up?”

“He’s not talking to himself.” Clarke speaks and Bellamy is kind of surprised she said anything. She looks towards where Murphy is lying on the floor and Bellamy turns around in his seat a little too, but he keeps his hand in hers. Bellamy watches as Murphy’s eyes snap open and has to keep himself from laughing at how worried he looks. “I’m Clarke.”

“Uh…I’m Murphy.” Murphy looks between Clarke and Bellamy. “This is fuckin‘ weird.” He presses the palms of his hands into his eyes before rubbing his face. “So damn weird,” he grumbles.

“Shut up, Murphy.” Raven huffs and Bellamy turns to where she’s lying by his chair. “It’s too early for your grumbling.” Bellamy doesn’t see Murphy move but a pillow goes flying through the air and lands at Raven’s head, causing her to sit up and glare at him.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Bellamy’s voice is firm and he can feel Clarke’s hand tighten on his. He looks back at her and rubs her fingers. “Clarke just woke up and I don’t need the two of you fighting and freaking her out.”

“Clarke?” Raven lifts her head to look at Bellamy before her gaze slides to where Clarke is now propped up on one of her elbows. “Holy shit.”

Clarke giggles. “Nice to meet you. What’s your name?” She tilts her head to the side, curious, and Bellamy thinks it’s pretty adorable.

“Raven. You’re very attractive.”

“Thanks, you are, too.” Clarke says simply and Bellamy turns to her, one of his eyebrows raised and an amused look on his face. She blushes. “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate.”

“No, it’s fine,” he reassures her. “You don’t have to hide who you are.” He watches as she relaxes and the embarrassment that had been showing on her face morphs into a bright smile.

“It doesn’t bother you that I prefer both?” She questions, her eyebrows raised.

“Not in the slightest.” He smiles too and runs his thumb over her fingers before bringing her hand up and kissing the back of it. He doesn’t take his eyes off her as he calls for everyone else to wake up and she laughs at his friends’ protests for being woken up.

“Is she awake?” Jasper asks as he yawns and it comes out more as ‘yis se awae’.

“I am.” Bellamy can’t see anyone else’s faces from his spot by the bed, but Jasper and Monty both pop their heads up at the foot of it.

“Oh my god, you’re really alive.” Jasper grins. “And you have an accent!”

“We’re glad you’re awake.” Monty gives her a smile.

“I’m Jasper.”

“Monty.”

“I’m Clarke.” She smiles and the two boys’ smiles get even bigger.

“I’m Miller.” Miller holds up his hand from the other side of the bed and Clarke leans over to look at him.

“Hi.” She grins down at him.

“Hello.”

“Alright, now that introductions have been made,” Bellamy squeezes her hand a little to get her attention and she turns back towards him, “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Hell yes.”

“Oh my god, I’m starving.”

“I need food.”

“Food sounds wonderful.”

Bellamy sighs. The question had been for Clarke to answer, but all of his friends answered instead of her. He ignores all of them and looks at her, letting her know that he’s paying attention.

“I haven’t eaten in a long time,” she sits up on the bed and smiles at him, “I’m curious to see how the food has changed.”

“Well, Princess, let’s see what we can do.” He stands up and she smiles as she scoots towards the edge of the bed. He’s glad that he didn’t let go of her hand earlier because as soon as she tries to stand, her legs buckle and she falls forward. He reacts instantly and wraps his arms around her, holding her up. “I got you.” He sits her back on the bed.

“I think they need a minute.” She lets go of his hand and rubs her hands over her legs, as if she’s trying to make them wake up.

“I’m going to go cook.” Miller stands up and stretches, giving Clarke a small smile. “Is there anything in particular you want?”

“Bacon, eggs, bread, jam, and some milk?” Clarke looks up at Miller expectantly and he stares at her for a second before grinning.

“I love people with big appetites. One princess of the sky order coming up.”

Clarke beams up at Bellamy and he can’t help but smile back. _I hope she’s going to adjust as well I think she is._ Everyone else files out of the room while Clarke sits on the bed and Bellamy stands next to her. He doesn’t want to push her, but he feels like getting her to move sooner rather than later might be better.

“Do you want to try again?” He asks and she looks up at him, eyes wide with uncertainty. She looks at him for a second before nodding.

He bends down and she grabs his forearms, steadying herself as she stands. Her legs shake but she takes one step, then another, and Bellamy snakes his arm around her waist so she can lean into him. She stumbles a couple of times as they make their way across the room and towards the door, but halfway down the hallway she’s sturdier on her feet. When they get to the end, he moves away and lets her hold onto his arm but by the time they reach the island in the kitchen, she’s pretty much walking on her own.

“Thank you.” She gives him a soft smile when she stops at the counter.

“Like I said, I’m going to help you.” He watches as she blushes and turns away, taking in the rest of the house.

“Things are a lot different than they were in my time,” she mumbles. “What’s that?” she points towards the T.V. sitting in his living room. Jasper and Raven are draped across the couch watching _Spongebob_.

“It’s a television,” Murphy says as he tears off a piece of bread. “Surely you had a T.V. back in the eighties.”

“Well, it’s more like 1800’s.” Clarke says but she doesn’t look at him to see his surprised expression, but Bellamy can see Murphy’s jaw drop, and Clarke begins to walk around the kitchen. “What’s this?” She reaches the refrigerator and opens it, looking around in the actual fridge part before opening the freezer. “It’s very cold.”

“It’s a refrigerator, it’s meant to help keep food fresh for longer,” Bellamy explains.

“Genius.” Clarke whispers then turns towards the microwave that Monty had just opened and closed. “And this?” She walks up to it and watches as Monty presses some buttons and it roars to life, causing Clarke to jump back a little. Bellamy tries to hide his smile, but her looking so intrigued by a microwave is adorable.

“It’s a microwave.”

“Just don’t stick your head inside of it.” Murphy calls over his shoulder as he pulls out some orange juice from the fridge. Clarke turns around, alarmed.

“What will happen if my head is inside of it?” Murphy turns around and makes an exploding motion with his hands around his head and Clarke turns to Bellamy, terrified.

“You have this in your house!”

“Murphy thinks he’s funny,” Bellamy shoots his friend a glare before walking towards Clarke and putting his hands on her shoulders. “You shouldn’t put your head, or anything metal, into it otherwise it can lead to a fire but other than that it’s perfectly safe.” The microwave starts beeping and Clarke jumps again before Bellamy moves her aside so Monty can pull his mug out of it.

“See? It’s perfectly safe.” Monty holds up his mug. “It heats things up.”

“Oh, I get it.” Clarke relaxes under Bellamy’s hand and he lets them fall to his side. She’s still looking around nervously at everything in the kitchen but eventually she wanders over to the plate of finished bacon next to the stove. Miller sees her and hands her a piece.

“Bacon as you requested.”

As if on cue, Clarke’s stomach growls and she smiles before popping the piece of bacon into her mouth. Her eyes practically roll to the back of her head and Bellamy laughs. When she opens them again, she’s eyeing the plate of bacon like an animal stalking its prey and Miller just smirks before handing the whole plate over.

“There’s more where that came from.”

“Thank you.” She grins and turns around, heading to stool at the end of the bar and sitting down.

“What the hell! How is that fair?” Murphy stares daggers at Miller’s back.

“She hasn’t eaten in over two hundred years, Murphy, I think she needs the food.” Bellamy points out and Murphy gives him a withering look before grabbing his glass of orange juice and stalking towards the living room, mumbling to himself.

“Not my fault she hasn’t eaten in so damn long. I was looking forward to that bacon.”

Bellamy decides to get to work on the eggs, since Miller is pretty caught up with the bacon, and Monty starts on the toast. Clarke is silent as she eats her plate of bacon, but every time Bellamy glances at her, she’s still looking around his house. _She has a lot to learn._ He asks her how she prefers her eggs cooked and she just smirks and says ‘surprise me’. So Bellamy went with scrambled since it was the safer option.

He fixes her a plate; three eggs, two pieces of toast, another three slices of bacon, and then hands her a glass of milk and sets out all of the jam and jelly options they have in the house along with some butter. Her eyes widen at how much food he’s put in front of her, and she digs into it immediately. _She has an appetite as big as Octavia’s_. Bellamy takes the stool next to her and they sit in silence while they eat, and on more than one occasion he moves some of his food onto her plate too.

No one else talks while they eat either, but they all keep looking towards Clarke. She seems oblivious to the fact that everyone is watching her eat, but Bellamy assumes that if he hadn’t eaten in that long then he wouldn’t pay attention to anyone else either. Jasper finishes first and he walks over to the sink, rinsing off his plate and utensils before putting them in the dishwasher. Clarke watches his movements and once she finishes off her last bite, she gets up and mimics what Jasper had done. She rinses off her plate, taking her time to put soap on it and running the rag over it, and then turns towards the dishwasher, setting the plate in the rungs next to Jasper’s.

“Wow, you already know how to load a dishwasher,” Raven grins, “you’re going to catch on fast.” Clarke looks between Raven and the dishwasher.

“It washes your dishes?”

“Yep, it’s the best thing ever.” Monty moves to the sink to wash his plate too.

“So, Clarke,” Murphy starts and Clarke turns towards him. “Where are you from and how the hell did you get here?”

“Murphy.” Bellamy growls but Murphy only smirks.

“What? It’s not like we aren’t dying to know.”

Bellamy looks towards Clarke and, for the first time since she woke up, she seems to be shy with everyone looking at her. She looks towards him and he feels the need to do something. _She might not be ready to talk about it yet_. Bellamy stands up, grabbing his plate and addressing everyone.

“She just woke up, she’s probably tired after eating so much, and I’m sure she’d like to get cleaned up.” He sets his plate down in the sink then turns to look at everyone again. “Let’s say we give her a minute and then, when she’s ready,” Bellamy flicks his eyes towards Clarke for a second before turning back to his friends, “She’ll tell us what she wants to tell us.”

Everyone nods their heads in agreement, except Murphy who snorts and rolls his eyes, and Clarke reaches out to grab his hand.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He gives her a small smile. “Now, would you like to take a bath?”

She smiles and nods her head. “That sounds wonderful.”

“I can help her.” Raven gets up from her place on the couch. “I even have an extra change of clothes in my car.”

“Oh, thank you,” Clarke smiles at the other girl, “you’re very kind.”

“Us girls have to stick together in a house run by men.” Raven teases and she winks at Bellamy before linking her arm with Clarke’s. “Come on, I’ll show you where the bathroom is.”

Bellamy watches as Raven leads Clarke back into his room so she can use the master bathroom, and when they’re out of his line of sight, Bellamy sighs then turns back to the sink to properly wash his plate. Once he gets everyone’s dishes into the dishwasher, he goes to work on getting the food put away and Raven slips out of the house to grab her spare clothes from her car for Clarke. When Bellamy is just finishing up putting the food away, the front door to his house swings open and he jumps, looking down at the entrance hall to see Octavia running full speed towards him.

“What the hell, O, you’re going to bust down the door!”

“Bell! It’s an emergency!” She skids to a halt in front of him and his mind immediately goes to the worst case scenario. “The statue from the town square is gone!”

Bellamy lets out a sigh of relief and can feel the tension leave his shoulders. Except, that doesn’t last long, but he tries to go for uncaring. “Really, Octavia? _That’s_ the big emergency?”

“Bellamy, this is _huge!”_ Octavia practically screams and Bellamy glances towards everyone in his living room. Monty and Jasper look kind of scared, Miller is steadily trying to act like he’s _not_ paying attention, Raven’s eyebrows are near her hairline, and Murphy looks like he’s watching the best show ever. “She’s found her soulmate! It’s always been true!”

“Octavia, someone probably stole it.” Bellamy shrugs and turns around to place the rag he had been holding on the handle of the oven.

“Come on, Bell, that statue was pure marble I doubt anyone would be able to actually move that thing.” Octavia snorts and Bellamy can hear Murphy cackle from the living room. _Yeah, yeah, she is my sister_.

“I just don’t see what the big deal is, you know I never believed in that story.”

“Bellamy, come _on_ , where is your sense of wonder?” Octavia rests her hands on her hips and arches an eyebrow at him. “No one could just _move_ her so the only other explanation is that she found her soulmate!”

“O—”

“Bellamy?” Clarke’s voice comes from the hallway. He turns to look at her and she’s looking down at her shirt— _his_ shirt. “Raven’s shirt didn’t fit so I hope you don’t mind—oh, hello.” Clarke starts when she looks up and sees Octavia.

“Hi.” Octavia tilts her head to the side and glances between Clarke and Bellamy. “Who are you?”

“I’m Clarke.” Clarke looks towards Bellamy and he can tell that she’s nervous.

“Clarke, this is Octavia, she’s my sister.”

“Oh!” Clarke smiles and crosses the living room, her hand held out. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Octavia narrows her eyes at the other girl before shaking her hand. “You too. Where are you from?”

“Um,” Clarke’s eyes dart towards Bellamy and even though he wants to help her, his mind isn’t working.

“She’s a friend of mine from D.C.” Raven cuts in and Octavia looks at her.

“Raven, I love you, but we both know that’s not true.” Octavia says matter-of-factly and Bellamy sighs. If it’s one thing Octavia has always been good at is calling people out on their bullshit. It was the reason why Bellamy could never get away with trying to trick her into believing some story he had made up when he was younger. _Fuck_.

“Octavia—”

“I was the statue in the center of town square.” Clarke says simply. Bellamy tenses but he reminds himself that she was going to find out sooner or later. He watches as Octavia looks at Clarke, her eyebrows furrowing before she looks at Bellamy, then back to Clarke, and a grin splits her face in half.

“Oh my god! I knew it was true! I can’t believe it!” She looks between Clarke and her brother again. “And—oh my god, you’re _his_ soulmate, aren't you?” She jabs her finger in Bellamy’s direction and an amused smile forms on Clarke’s lips.

“Yeah, I am.” The way she says it makes the butterflies in Bellamy’s stomach flutter and he turns to look at her, a smile playing on his lips too.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it!” Octavia laughs before launching herself at Clarke and throwing her arms around the other girl. Clarke stumbles backwards and Bellamy moves to keep her from falling over.

“O, don’t knock her over.”

“It’s okay.” Clarke laughs then returns the hug.

“You’re going to be my sister-in-law!”

“ _Octavia._ ” Bellamy’s voice is stern and his sister pulls back to look at him.

“Oh come on, big brother, she’s your _soulmate_ for crying out loud, of course you’re going to get married.”

“Actually, soulmates don’t have to be romantic,” Monty points out. “They can just be a close friend.”

“Yeah, like us.” Jasper grins and then he and Monty self-five.

Octavia turns back to Bellamy and Clarke. She looks at them for a second before sighing and throwing her hands up in the air. “Whatever, but don’t say I didn’t call it.” Bellamy groans and runs his fingers through his hair and Octavia grins, taking Clarke’s hand and leading her towards the couch. “So, tell me _everything_ since apparently I wasn’t invited to the sleepover.” Octavia glares at everyone around the room.

Clarke folds herself onto the couch between Octavia and Raven, hugging a pillow to her chest. She looks around the room at everyone and Bellamy pulls a chair over from the dining table, turning it around and straddling it. She looks towards him and he shrugs. He had said earlier that no one was going to push her to talk if she didn’t want to, and he swears he can see her relax into the cushions, giving him a grateful smile.

“Well, where do you want me to start?” Clarke looks around the room and everyone sits up straighter, even Murphy. “What would you like to know?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...Bellamy Blake with a soulmate...do we think he stands a chance?
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke settles in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m sorry for the late posting, but I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

Listening to Clarke talk about her life and what happened both intrigued Bellamy and filled him with anger. She talked about her parents and how them finding each other was due to an arranged marriage that just happened to turn out perfectly for them. He listened as she talked about falling in love with a boy named Elijah who wasn’t her soulmate but they decided to love each other anyway. Hearing her talking about another guy like that sparked jealousy in Bellamy’s chest, but he pushed it away.

“So, how did you become a statue?” It’s Jasper who asks and everyone leans in, waiting for her answer.

“Well, that’s where things get difficult.” Clarke is looking down at the pillow in her lap and playing with the edges of it. Bellamy wishes he could see her face, but her hair is like a curtain around her.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, Clarke.” He doesn’t want her to have to relive something she’s not ready to.

“No, it’s fine,” She lets out a dry laugh. “It has been two hundred and twelve years.”

“And here you were worried that she was going to be too young for you.” Murphy jokes but it’s not the right time for Bellamy to find it funny.

“My mother didn’t like the fact that I was attracted to other women and when I fell in love with Elijah I assumed she would be happier, even if he wasn’t my soulmate, but that was the final straw for her.” Clarke sniffles and it tears at Bellamy’s heart. “Elijah and I had been planning on running away, but I later found him in the arms of another woman. I went back to my home crying and my mother came in to talk to me. I thought she was coming to comfort me, and she did, but it didn’t last.

“She gave me some water, telling me that I would go parched from crying, then brought me outside, talking to me about the stars and how if I looked hard enough then I would be able to find a path to my soulmate. I had been holding her hand and was looking up at the sky when I felt it.” Clarke reaches up and wipes a tear from her cheek. “It happened before I could really comprehend what was going on, but it was like I suddenly couldn’t move and there was a pressure everywhere before it all went black.”

“Oh my god—”

“Clarke—”

_ Who could be so cruel? _

“I didn’t know what happened but eventually it was like I could hear people talking around me but it was like they weren’t really there. Over time I guess I picked up what happened, I had no perception of just how long it had been. My mother had gone to an alchemist, Becca, to help her with an elixir that would turn me.”

“I couldn’t imagine having to go through that.”

“Something I don’t understand is, how could you have been expected to find a soulmate way back then when my brother is your soulmate now?” Octavia turns more towards Clarke and leans her elbows on her knees.

“It was the long held belief that you and your soulmate would always find each other in the next life. You wouldn’t know that they had been your soulmate in a previous life, but you would always find your way back to each other.”

“I always thought it would be you keep getting reincarnated until you found your soulmate and then you would grow old together and not get reincarnated again.” Bellamy’s surprised that it’s Raven who brings it up. He never took her as someone who believed in soulmates, but the way she talks makes him realize that she might’ve believed, once upon a time.

“There are many different takes on soulmates, but no one really knew for sure,” Clarke says simply.

“Which one did you believe?” Octavia’s eyes are wide as she looks at the other girl.

“I never believed in soulmates, Octavia.”

“Wow,” Octavia turns from Bellamy and smirks, “maybe the two of you really are meant to be.”

Bellamy snorts but when he looks at Clarke, she’s giving him a small smile. Of course, the girl who would end up being his ‘soulmate’ wouldn’t have believed in soulmates just like him. Now? He isn’t sure what exactly he’s supposed to believe.

The conversation shifts to something less heavy, which is Clarke asking everyone how they met and became friends. Bellamy’s glad that she’s so easy to get along with, and she really seems like she enjoys hanging out with everyone, and the same goes for everyone else.

Monty and Jasper take the lead in the story telling, saying that the two of them grew up next to each other so it was inevitable that they became friends, then they became friends with Octavia. Bellamy had met Miller and Murphy in middle school, and Murphy became friends with Raven at the beginning of high school, who was friends with Harper and eventually Harper met Monty and they’ve all been friends ever since. Clarke listens to all of their stories and Bellamy can’t help but smile a little every time she laughs.

“One thing I still don’t understand,” Octavia starts as she comes out of the kitchen with a box of cookies, “is how you speak so normal. Shouldn’t you be like, speaking proper and be more freaked out about wearing leggings?”

“Well, like I said earlier, I could hear the people talking around me. So, even though I couldn’t talk myself, I believe I picked up how to over the years.”

“But it must be weird to be awake and not talk how you used to talk, isn’t it?” Raven raises her eyebrows at Clarke and Clarke shrugs.

“Everything is weird to me, how I talk isn’t any weirder than wearing these.” Clarke picks at the leggings she’s wearing. “What are these again? Leggings? I’ve never worn anything as tight as these but they’re really comfortable.”

“Good, next we’ll introduce you to yoga pants.” Octavia grins.

“What’s yoga?”

“I love you, you’re like an alien.” Jasper is grinning like the Cheshire cat and Bellamy can see Clarke blush.

“Alright, enough hounding her.” Bellamy stands up stretches. “Clarke, is there anything you’d like to do?”

“Oh, um…” Clarke looks at him with wide eyes before looking around the room. “I’m not sure. I’m enjoying just spending some time here and talking.”

“We can watch the magic box.” Murphy offers and Clarke tilts her head to the side.

“I thought you said it was a television?”

Bellamy has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Murphy scowls at Clarke then turns towards the T.V. and starts flipping through some of the channels until Miller snatches the remote from him and then walks over to Clarke to show her how to use it.

Bellamy watches his friends interacting with Clarke and decides that she’s in good hands so he turns around and heads towards his bathroom. Clarke’s clothes are folded neatly on top of the hamper and what happened the night before floods back into his mind.  _ This is going to take some getting used to _ . He sighs before stripping off his shirt and turning on the shower.  _ She needs clothes. She has no personal documents. She has no money.  _ Bellamy tries to turn off his thoughts for at least a few minutes while he brushes his teeth.

_ There’s no guidebook for this. _

The water is set on it’s hottest setting and Bellamy loves how it practically scalds his back. Everything that’s happened seemed like it had been a dream, and that he would wake up from it at some point, but now that he’s in the shower and replaying everything in his head, he knows it’s real. A girl had been turned into a statue and then that statue became his soulmate.

He washes his hair and scrubs his body and after he feels like he’s calmed his thoughts down enough, he grabs the towel off the hook beside the shower and runs it through his hair before wrapping it around his waist. He isn’t sure how soon they should bring Clarke outside, but he knows she probably wouldn’t want to be cooped up in the house for too long. He remembers the other’s talking about what they should say if someone were to ask about Clarke, so he reckons he should ask them if they came up with something.  _ And I should talk to Clarke. _

When he walks into his room to grab some clothes, he’s too caught up in his own thoughts to notice Clarke sitting on his bed with his mythology book in her lap again. It’s only when he sees movement out of his periphery that he stops and grips the towel around his waist tighter.

“Clarke!” She jumps and looks up at him, a scared expression on her face. He mentally curses himself for yelling, but she had surprised him. “I’m sorry, you just—I didn’t see you there.”

“Am I not supposed to be here?” She bites her lower lip and he  _ swears _ those blue eyes are staring into his soul.  _ They have to be _ .

“No, it’s fine. It’s just, people usually don’t see others naked except for a towel unless—”

“They’re together?”

“Yeah.”

“But Raven saw me in a towel and we’re not together.” She tilts her head to the side and Bellamy begins to realize it’s something she does when she doesn’t understand something completely.

“That’s different, you’re both girls.”

“But I like girls.”

“Well, by society standards today it’s not right for a girl to see a guy naked and in a towel and vice versa.”

“That’s a peculiar rule.”

“Would you want a guy to be staring at you while you were completely naked?”

“I’ve had handmaids, Bellamy, they’ve seen me naked. But I wouldn’t be completely naked today, I’d have a towel.”

“You got me there, Clarke.” He gives her a slight smile before turning to dig around in his t-shirt drawer. He pulls out a plain black shirt, some boxers, and a new pair of jeans out of his closet. “Did you need something from in here or were you just laying down?”

“Well, Octavia and Raven brought up the fact that I don’t have any clothes, and I told them that I wanted to get more of these.” She plucks at the leggings. “I was waiting for you to get out of the shower so I could get my pouch.”

“Your pouch?” Bellamy raises an eyebrow at her.

“Yes, come look.” Clarke slides off the bed and pads into the bathroom with Bellamy following behind her. She goes for her dress and pulls out what seems to be a belt with a small, brown leather pouch attached to it. “My mother always insisted I carry money with me but it had to be hidden so no one would try to take it.”

“I didn’t realize you had that on you last night.”

“It’s small enough to where I could hide it under my dress and wrap it around my waist.”

“Why do you need it?”

“So I can go shopping, weren’t you listening?” She looks at him with her brows furrowed together.

“Yeah, I was listening. I just didn’t realize you had money.”

“It’s not much but…” She trails off and heads back into the bedroom, folding herself onto the bed. Bellamy decides he should probably get dressed so he tells her he’ll be out in a second before closing the door.

When he steps out, Clarke is in the process of counting out what appears to be gold coins, and a decent amount of gold coins at that.  _ She said it wasn’t much _ . Bellamy watches as Clarke makes neat little stacks with the coins while counting them out. When she’s done, she looks over at him.

“If I ration my money accordingly, I can get two modest dresses and a pair of shoes, but I’m not sure how much leggings cost.” She looks back at her coins and scrunches her face up. “Would it be too little to assume it’s only three coins?”

“Um, Clarke?” Bellamy can’t take his eyes off the coins.

“Yes?”

“What exactly are the coins made out of?”

“Gold, of course.” She furrows her eyebrows at him. “Are your coins made of something else? Is it silver?”

“No, actually, it’s this.” Bellamy picks up his jeans that are still in the bathroom and pulls out his wallet and some spare change he had been carrying around for the parking meters the night before. He hands her a five dollar bill and a quarter and dime.

“Oh, how lovely. What is it made of?”

“Cotton and linen.”

Clarke’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?” She holds the bill in front of her face for a second before turning to the coins. “What about these?”

“Copper and nickel.”

“How much is this compared to this?” Clarke holds up the quarter and one of her gold coins.

“Nothing much if that’s real gold.” Bellamy looks at the gold coin in her hand and swallows. “How much do you have there?”

“Um,” she leans over and counts the stacks, “ten stacks so a hundred coins. Is this enough to go shopping?”

“Is that real gold? Like pure, solid gold?”

“What else would it be? If it were anything else you would’ve been called a thief.”

“Well then, yeah, that’s definitely enough to go shopping.” Bellamy rubs the back of his neck. “I’ll be right back.” Clarke nods and gives him a small smile before going back to inspecting the five dollars.

_ Well, that either makes things a whole lot easier or a lot more complicated. _ When Bellamy walks into the living room, he sees that all of the guys have passed out and Octavia and Raven are both scrolling on their phones. Raven looks up when he walks in and he must have some sort of look on his face because she quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Where’s the closest place to turn gold into money that can be used?”

“Gold? You don’t have any gold.” Octavia looks up from her phone.

“I don’t, Clarke does.”

“Clarke has gold? Like,  _ solid _ gold?” Raven puts her phone down, her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Well, she was a princess and she said it was pure gold. And from the way it was making my bed dip, I believe her.”

“She said she was going to get her pouch, I didn’t know what that meant but—”

“Yeah, me either.” Bellamy runs a hand through his hair. “So? Do either of you know where the nearest exchange is?”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Raven pulls up her phone again and starts clicking away on it.

“At least now we know she has money.” Octavia says but Bellamy feels sad at the thought of her having to use her own money.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Bellamy goes back into his bedroom and Clarke is taking her pouch off of the belt and putting the coins back into it.  _ Gold coins. What the fuck. _ When she closes the pouch she stands up and hands him his money back. He has no idea what the exchange rate for that much gold is, but he doesn’t want anyone finding out about it. Namely Murphy.

“So, are we going to go shopping today?” Clarke stops in front of him and smiles. “Or would it be okay if we just stayed in for now? I have a feeling people are going to be wondering where my statue is.”

“Yeah, I think maybe staying in for a couple of days might be for the best.” Clarke nods her head and starts towards the door but he grabs her hand. “But, Clarke?”

“Hm?”

“We don’t use gold, today. I mean, it’s still worth money but you can’t just go into a store and give them a gold coin.”

“So I’ll just exchange it for some of the linen money.” She shrugs and holds up her pouch. “Where can I go?”

“Another thing is I don’t think you should exchange all of it. Just enough so you can go shopping but hide the rest.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” She nods her head. “Where’s the nearest exchange?”

“Let’s see what Raven’s found.”

Bellamy leads Clarke back into the living room and Octavia and Raven are talking to each other in the kitchen. When the two girls catch sight of him and Clarke they wave them over. Octavia explains that an ounce of pure gold is really expensive and Raven says that the nearest gold exchange is a twenty minute drive. In the end they use Miller’s food scale to weigh out an ounce of gold and Raven volunteers to go exchange it so Clarke doesn’t have to go outside, and Miller is woken up so he can go with her.

Bellamy tells Clarke to go hide the coins somewhere in his room but not tell anyone where it is. While Clarke is hiding her coins, everyone else wakes up and, not that Bellamy is surprised, hungry again.  _ We’re going to have to go grocery shopping at some point, I still need to do laundry, Clarke needs a place to sleep, she needs clothes _ —

“Bellamy?” Clarke materializes next to him with her hand on his arm. “It’s done.”

“What’s done?” Monty asks.

“Uh, she brushed her teeth.”

Clarke gives him an amused smile before turning towards Monty. “Your toothbrushes are a lot better than what we used, and I like the minty paste.”

Monty gives her a small smile and a nod before turning his attention back to the T.V. and Bellamy looks down at Clarke with a raised eyebrow.

“Have you brushed your teeth?”

“Yes, Raven showed me.”

“What did you use?”

Clarke blushes and she peeks up at him through her eyelashes. “Your toothbrush. Raven told me you wouldn’t mind.”

_ Of course she did _ . “Yeah, it’s fine. But we’ll get you your own.”

“Okay.” Clarke smiles at him before wedging herself onto the couch between Jasper and Octavia and Jasper offers her a chocolate chip cookie.

“It’s good, trust me.” He urges her to eat one while he takes a bite of his own.

Clarke doesn’t hesitate to take a little nibble from it and she grins before biting into it some more. Bellamy relaxes at the fact that Clarke seems to be settling in so well; he was worried that she might freak out or get upset, but that hasn’t happened. Of course, there was when she first woke up, but that’s completely understandable, and he’s happy she’s able to smile and laugh so freely.

It’s a lazy day as everyone hangouts in the living room while grazing on whatever they can get their hands on. Clarke asks a few questions about what other inventions they have which is what leads to Bellamy showing her how to use the washer and dryer. He explains that you have to separate the dark colors from the whites, and to always double check the whites to make sure you turn nothing pink. She offers to measure out the detergent after he shows her and looks up at him with a triumphant smile when he tells her she did it perfectly. He also shows her the thermostat and she says that she wishes she would’ve had it back in her time; using fireplaces wasn’t exactly the best thing to warm up a room.

When Raven and Miller get back, they hand over a receipt and a wad of cash, along with a toothbrush, and Bellamy tells Clarke to follow him to his room. She can’t exactly walk around with that much money, especially when she’s wearing pants with no pockets, so he pulls out an old duct tape wallet that Jasper had made him a while back and tells her to put the money in there until they can get her a better one.

Back in the living room, Octavia pulls Clarke onto the pallet she’s made on the floor and hands her laptop over to Clarke. Clarke stares at it as Octavia goes over how to use it and shows her that it even has a touch screen. Bellamy watches as Clarke clicks on a few keys with an open word document and types out ‘Hello, my name is Clarke’. Once Octavia thinks she has the hang of it, she pulls up the website to some of the stores in the mall and tells Clarke to look through them to see if she can find anything that she likes.

Since everyone snacks throughout the day, no one eats an actual lunch but by the time the evening rolls around everyone is starving. Bellamy decides to cook hamburgers while Octavia calls their mom and says that she’s going to be staying the night. When Bellamy started getting the ground meat ready, Clarke was being shown how to play Mario Kart by Miller and Murphy, but as Bellamy moved onto the fourth burger, Clarke walked up and peeked around his shoulder.

“What is that?”

“It’s ground meat, I’m making burgers.”

“Oh! I like burgers.”

“You do?” Bellamy glances at her and she nods her head.

“Yeah, my parents brought me on a trip to Germany with them and it was given to us as our welcoming meal. It was delicious.”

“Well, I hope I can deliver then.” Bellamy turns back to the ball of meat he had been shaping.

“Can you teach me?”

“You really want to learn?”

“Yes, please.” Clarke smiles and Bellamy’s heart does a little flip.

“Well, okay then.”

He grins as he sets up a place for her to start shaping the meat and he walks her through how to make a ball with it then press it out, and she has a little difficulty with getting it to stay together but eventually she has a pretty good hamburger patty that’s ready to go. They work in silence as they each start on the next two patties except for when she asks ‘is this good enough?’ and he tells her it’s great.

All in all, she’s really adjusting to modern life a lot better than he had ever anticipated, but she is very intelligent. When the patties are ready, they both bring them outside to but them on the barbeque pit and Clarke is right there by his side as he cooks them. She asks him why they still use fire to cook their food if they have things like ovens and microwaves and he tells her that it’s because of how it makes the meat taste. She can’t help but agree.

After the burgers are ready and everything is laid out inside, Clarke is shown all of the condiments they have which leads to Octavia and Jasper telling her that she has to try all of them. She’s a little apprehensive about trying mayonnaise, but she says it isn’t bad, and she likes the ketchup, but she gags when it comes to the mustard and Bellamy has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He doesn’t like mustard either.

As they eat, Clarke talks about some of her favorite foods from her time but says that the hamburgers are a lot better now then they had been then, though she really wants to see how their sweets have improved. It all seems so normal as if just twenty-four hours before she hadn’t been a statue that all of them had looked at their entire lives.

“Alright, crazy night, crazy day, I’m going to go to sleep and hopefully things won’t be so fucking weird tomorrow.” Murphy grumbles then puts his plate in the sink and shuffles to his bedroom.

“Ignore him.” Jasper leans over to talk to Clarke. “He’s an asshole even on his best days.”

“It’s okay, I think he’s funny.” Clarke shrugs as she takes another bite of her burger. “Reminds me of someone I used to know.”

“Oh yeah? Who?” Raven looks at Clarke from over her cup.

“His name was Nicholas, he had the same mentality as Murphy.”

“Oh god,” Miller’s eyes go wide. “Please don’t tell me that Murphy is the reincarnation of Nicholas. I couldn’t imagine having Murphy around for eternity.”

“Not eternity, only until the Earth burns.” Raven points out and Miller snorts.

“Like I said earlier, no one knew what happened with soulmates, whether they kept coming back indefinitely or they found their soulmate and then lived with them until the end. But I do believe that the chance of Murphy being Nicholas is highly improbable given all of the people in the world.”

“Well, the universe thought it’d be funny to give a soulmate to the one person who’s always despised them so why wouldn’t they have one of your friends living in the house you’re going to be staying at?” Raven asks as she stands up from the table. “I wouldn’t say it’s that unlikely.”

Bellamy looks at Clarke when Raven says the soulmates thing and he watches as Clarke stares down at her plate. She’s right, he never liked the idea of soulmates, but to say he despised them is harsh.  _ Maybe she thinks I don’t want her here. _ Bellamy extends his leg under the table and taps Clarke’s, getting her to look up at him. He gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile but the one she gives him seems sad.

“May I be excused?”

“Yeah, of course, you don’t have to ask.” Octavia nudges Clarke with her elbow and Clarke gives her a soft smile.

Bellamy watches as Clarke puts her plate in the sink and rinses it off before walking towards his room and closing the door. His heart aches in his chest and the look on her face seems to be permanently seared into his mind, which doesn’t help with the guilt he feels. Bellamy turns to glare at Raven and she quirks an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“Maybe don’t talk about how I despise soulmates when my supposed soulmate is literally sitting a foot away from you.” Bellamy grumbles then gets up, putting his plate in the sink and following after Clarke.

When he reaches the door, he knocks. It’s weird, considering it’s his room, but he knows better than to just try and barge into a room where a girl is likely crying. When she doesn’t answer, he knocks again and he’s pretty sure he can hear her sniffling on the other side, but he can’t tell. He knocks for a third time then leans his head against the door.

“Clarke? Can you open the door please?” He murmurs and he can hear some shuffling then the sound of her unlocking the door. Bellamy takes that as an invitation to go in so he slips through the door and closes it behind him.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken your room.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize.” He reaches out to place his hand on her shoulder but she moves away from him. “Can you talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Bellamy. I just don’t know what got into me.” She reaches up and wipes her face off then runs her fingers through her hair. “I should go join everyone else.”

“Clarke, wait.” He grabs her arm lightly as she heads to the door and she stops, not looking at him. “I know what Raven said upset you, about me and soulmates, but I never  _ despised _ the idea of having one. I just never believed in them, and you didn’t either.”

“I just don’t want you to feel like you have to keep me here if you don’t want me here.” She brings her eyes up to him and Bellamy can’t look away. “You’re right, neither of us believed in soulmates but here we are, and I don’t want you to feel like you have some sort of duty, or obligation, or something that makes you feel like—”

“ _ Clarke. _ ” Bellamy places both of his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t feel obligated to keep you here, or that I have a duty, or anything like that. I didn’t believe in soulmates, and I’m still not sure what to make of this situation, but I know that if anyone were to be my soulmate, I would want it to be you.”

“We barely know each other, Bellamy.” Clarke looks down at her feet.

“But in the time that I’ve known you, you’ve amazed me with how smart and funny you are and I know we’ve just gotten through the surface of who you are. And I can’t wait to find out more about you.”

Clarke looks at him through her eyelashes and he can see her biting her lower lip. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Thanks.” Bellamy smiles and can feel his face heat up. “So, don’t let anyone make you believe that I don’t want you here, okay? I want you here with me.”

“Okay.” Clarke leans forward and wraps her arms around his waist and his arms wrap around her shoulders. He rests his chin on top of her head and can’t help but notice the fact that she smells like his green apple shampoo. They stay like that for a minute then Clarke tightens her grip on him slightly before pulling away.

“Are you good to go back out there?” He asks, pushing a strand of hair out of her face and she nods. “Good, because I think Octavia was wanting to have a sleepover in the living room tonight with you, her, and Raven.”

“A sleepover?” Clarke tilts her head to the side.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of eating junk food, staying up late, and watching your favorite movies.”

“Oh, that sounds like it could be fun.” Clarke brightens as she heads for the door. “Will you be joining the sleepover?”

“I think O means for it to be girls only.” He gives her a lopsided smile. “But I’ll be in here if you need me, yeah?”

“Okay.” She bites her lower lip again. “Goodnight, Bellamy.”

“Goodnight, Clarke.”

Bellamy gets ready for bed and all the while he can hear Octavia, Clarke, and Raven laughing out in the living room and he’s glad that things seem to be fine between Clarke and Raven despite what happened earlier. As he lays in bed that night, the girls have lowered their voices to where he can only hear slight mumblings unless one of them bursts out laughing, but he wishes Clarke was in his room again. Sitting with her the night before, he had been a huge ball of nerves waiting for her to wake up,  _ wondering _ if she would wake up, but he had liked holding her hand. Then he woke up with her running her fingers through his hair and he  _ definitely _ liked that.

He doesn’t know when he drifts off to sleep, but he wakes up to the creak of his door opening and closing. He opens his eyes and can’t see much in the darkness of his room, but the light coming in through the crack of his curtains illuminates blonde hair as Clarke walks towards his bed. She kneels beside him and he can just make out her silhouette.

“Clarke? Are you okay?” Bellamy’s voice is rough and he runs a hand over his face then looks over at the clock on his nightstand.  _ 2:37 AM _ . “What’s wrong?”

“They’re all gone, Bellamy.” Clarke’s voice is soft and it breaks. “My parents, my friends, all of them.” A sob racks her body and she brings up her hand to cover her mouth.

“Come here.” Bellamy scoots over in his bed then moves Clarke into the spot next to him. “I got you.” Clarke buries her face into his chest and he keeps his arms tight around her.

She cries louder now than she had when she first woke up, and Bellamy’s heart clenches. He murmurs into her hair and rubs his hand up and down her back. He’s not sure how long they stay like that, or how long she cries, but at some point she stops crying and there’s only sniffles. He gets out of bed to grab some toilet paper for her but when he gets back in, Clarke settles right back to where she had been before.

“Thank you for letting me wake you up so late.”

“Anytime, Princess.” Bellamy murmurs and Clarke lets out a dry laugh.

“Princess.” She sniffles. “All of my training was centered around not letting my emotions show, for fear of coming off as weak. Head held high, back straight, smile big enough to make it look as if you care but not big enough to seem overenthusiastic like a small child.” Clarke reaches up and wipes a stray tear away and Bellamy cards his fingers through her hair. “I was able to push away my feelings this morning but, laying down out there, everything just came back and it felt like I was suffocating.”

“You don’t feel like that now, do you?”

“My chest still feels tight, but,” she takes a deep breath and lets out slowly. It tickles Bellamy’s neck. “I think it’s just something that’s going to take time.” They’re silent until Clarke pulls back to look at him. “Is it weird to mourn for someone who’s been gone for so long?”

“Not when it feels like yesterday to you.”

“Well, it doesn’t feel like  _ yesterday _ , but it is weird.” Clarke plays with his t-shirt. “Um, Bellamy?”

“Hm?” Bellamy’s eyes are fighting against staying open.

“Can I stay in here for a little longer?”

Bellamy tightens his hold on her. “You can stay as long as you want.”

He’s pretty sure he can feel her smile against his neck. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy may not know what to think of the situation, but he’ll get there ;)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	5. Chapter 5

When Bellamy wakes up, it’s to his phone vibrating on the nightstand and a sea of blonde hair laying on his chest. Even though he’s barely awake, Bellamy smiles slightly and his heart flips a little when Clarke tightens her grip on him. Except, another round of vibrating breaks him out of the little bubble of bliss he’s feeling and Bellamy has to suppress a groan as he reaches over to see who’s blowing up his phone. 

His room is dark except for the little bit of light coming in through the curtains he didn’t close all the way, and when he looks at his screen, he squints.  _ Fucking groupchat _ . The fraternity group chat that Bellamy and the other guys got added to last week hasn’t been used much, but it seems that now, they’re trying to gather all the polaroids from the night before. 

“Bellamy?” Clarke’s sleep-laden voice brings his attention away from his phone and towards her. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Bellamy locks his phone and sets it back on his nightstand; the last thing he needs is to be worried about some frat. 

Clarke lifts her head up and looks at him, her blue eyes still bright even in the dark of the room. “I think I’m feeling better.” She brings her hand up as she yawns, and Bellamy smiles at the little noise she makes. “I’m sorry for waking you up last night.”

“Don’t apologize,” Bellamy murmurs as he reaches out and pushes some hair away from her face. “You were hurting. I’m actually happy that you came to me.”

“You are?”

“Yeah.” Clarke smiles, and Bellamy is pretty sure he’s never seen something so beautiful. Then her stomach growls and it sends her into a fit of giggles that makes him laugh, too. “Come on, let's get you some breakfast.”

Bellamy crawls out of bed first, and turns around to help Clarke out of the bed. Once again, he’s stunned by how small her hand is compared to his, and where his skin is dark and has freckles splattered across it, hers is light, like porcelain. When she stands, a smile lights up her face.

“I could stand without falling this time.”

“Yeah, you could.” Bellamy’s hand tightens around hers until he realizes that he’s still holding it and he lets her hand slide out of his. “Come on, we need breakfast.”

Bellamy can feel Clarke walking behind him as they make their way into the kitchen, and his hand flutters at his side, trying to keep himself from reaching out for her again. Clarke follows him to the fridge and peeks around his shoulder to see what’s in it. They’re beginning to run low on food, so they’re going to have to go shopping soon, but Bellamy doesn’t know how soon they should bring Clarke outside.  _ Maybe if we don’t go to town square, she’ll be fine _ . 

“When are we going to go shopping?” Clarke asks, and Bellamy turns to look at her. 

“Uh, I don’t know. I’m not sure how people are reacting to your statue not being there.” 

Clarke nods her head a little, and Bellamy feels a pang in his chest at how she’s pouting.  _ I shouldn’t feel bad. I haven’t done anything. Have I? _ “When will we know?” 

“I’ll talk to everyone when they wake up and we’ll send someone to see what’s going on. But, with how famous you were, I’m sure there will be something on the news.”

“The news?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together as she looks at him. 

“It’s something that tells people what’s happening. Whether it’s here in town, the state, something across the country, in a different part of the world. It’s a way to get information out to a lot of people in a short amount of time.” 

“Oh,” Clarke smiles, “that seems very useful. When I was home, we would have to wait weeks in order to know something. Now you can learn just by turning on the television?” 

“Yeah.” Bellamy nods his head, smiling, too. “Want to see if you’re making headlines?”  _ Why didn’t I think of this yesterday? _

“Headlines?” Clarke tilts her head to the side and Bellamy has to bite back his laugh. 

“It’s like the title of something important.” Bellamy grabs Clarke’s hand, even though he doesn’t need to since the living room is literally  _ right there _ , but he can’t help himself. 

He sits on the couch and Clarke folds herself next to him as he turns on the television, and since the volume is really loud, the two of them jump at the same time Raven and Octavia start awake. 

“What time is it?” Octavia groans as she rolls onto her stomach. 

“Way to damn early,” Raven grumbles.

Clarke laughs lightly as Bellamy flips through the channels, and lands on one of the news stations. Sure enough, the first thing they see is a picture of Clarke’s statue and a live video of the empty spot of where it used to be.

_ Day 2: Soulmate Statue Still Lost _

Bellamy turns up the volume just as the rest of the guys appear at the end of the hallway, and they all turn to look at the T.V. as well. 

“Today is the second day that the statue in the middle of town square has been missing, and hundreds of people have gathered to commemorate the Princess of the Sky. As you can see behind me, people have started to leave flowers and candles for the missing princess, with many young children placing the pictures that they’ve taken with her and drawn of her. The princess may have been a statue, but she has touched the lives of many with her story of finding her soulmate and, as you can see, given the kids of Arkadia something to dream about.”

The camera moves to where there are more people placing flowers in a circle around the place where Clarke once stood, and a sound that comes from next to Bellamy catches his attention. When he looks over, the corners of Clarke’s mouth are tilted up and there’s tears forming in her eyes.

“Clarke? You okay?” Monty’s eyebrows are furrowed together as he looks at her and everyone turns to look at her.

“Yes, I’m okay.” Clarke sniffles. “I just did not know how many people liked my statue.” 

“Did you ever feel people holding your hand?” Jasper asks, and Clarke shakes her head.

“I could never feel anything, not even when Bellamy held it, but I could hear noise and voices from time to time.”

“I guess that answers the question of how things are going.” Raven yawns then lays back down. “A lot of people grew up looking at your statue.” 

“Maybe there’s a reward for turning her in.” Murphy throws himself onto the recliner.

“What?” Clarke’s eyes go wide and Bellamy places his hand over hers.

“He’s joking.” Bellamy glares at friend and Murphy rolls his eyes.

“Yes, I’m joking.” When he looks around the room, he snorts. “What? You seriously think I’d turn her in?” 

There’s a lot of grumbling and Clarke’s hand tightens around Bellamy’s causing him to look at her. “Don’t worry, you don’t have anything to be scared of.”

“Except doctors wanting to probe your brain,” Murphy grumbles, and Bellamy throws a pillow at him. 

“Shut the fuck up, Murphy, you’re scaring her.” 

“Ignore him.” Miller means onto the back of the couch. “He thinks he’s funny.”

“I am funny. It’s just nobody appreciates it,” Murphy groans. 

“Bellamy?” He turns his attention back to Clarke, and her blue eyes are wide as she looks at him. “Could we go see it? I know that it’s only been two days, but—I—I need to see it.”

_ What the fuck do I say to that? _ “Clarke…” Bellamy tried to get his brain to work fast enough so he could figure out what to say, and all he could think of was, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I know that it could be risky if someone started questioning me—”

“And you would literally be  _ walking _ right into the worst place for trying to stay hidden.”

“I know, but, Bellamy—”

“No,  _ buts _ , Clarke. We can’t risk it. You don’t know what could happen!” His voice rises before he can catch it, but Clarke doesn’t seem to be worried about it.

“And you do?” Clarke’s eyes are hard, and her mouth sets into a thin line as she looks at him. The two of them stare at each other for a beat before Clarke pushes off the couch and makes her way down the hall, shutting a door he assumes is his.

Bellamy looks around at his friends, and Miller runs a hand over his short hair, Monty and Jasper’s eyes go wide, and he’s pretty sure Murphy snorts off to the side. When he looks at Raven and Octavia, they’re shaking their heads. “What the hell did I do?”

“You know you can’t keep her in here forever, right?” Octavia raises her eyebrows at him, and Bellamy has to fight back a groan.

“She wants to walk right into the place with hundreds of people and hundreds of cameras, O. This isn’t me wanting to keep her inside, this is me not wanting people to start asking questions that we don’t have any answers to.”

“I think we can help with that.” Monty steps forward and shares a look with Jasper. “Neither of us could sleep last night, so we might have gotten to work on her backstory.”

“Without us?” Raven raises an eyebrow and Monty shrugs. 

“It’s not set in stone, it’s just ideas at this point.”

Bellamy sighs and stands up, running both of his hands through his hair. “I guess I should try to talk to her.”

“Are you going to apologize?” Octavia crosses her arms over her chest and Bellamy gives her an incredulous look. 

“What do I have to apologize for?”

“Trust me, man,” Monty place his hand on Bellamy’s shoulder, “you’ll be better off if you do.”

Bellamy rolls his eyes and makes his way around Raven, Octavia, and Jasper and starts towards his bedroom.  _ Am I the only one being reasonable here? They can’t be serious about bringing her out there! _ Bellamy stops in front of his door and takes a deep breath.  _ Stay calm. Be cool. You can’t keep raising your voice at her, she just got here _ . Letting his breath out slowly, he reaches up and knocks on the door. 

“Go away, Bellamy.” Her voice is muffled from behind the door, and Bellamy rests his forehead against it.

“We need to talk.”

“There is nothing to talk about. You’ve made yourself very clear.”

“Clarke, can you please open the door? I can barely hear you.”

There’s no answer, and when Bellamy knocks again, there’s still nothing. Swearing silently, Bellamy stalks back through the living room and into the kitchen, grabbing a butter knife, and then returns to his door, unlocking it with the tip of the knife. Clarke is laying on her side, hugging one of his pillows with her back to him, and even though he expects to hear her crying, there’s nothing.

She doesn’t roll over when he walks into the room and shuts the door, and Bellamy is left wondering what he should do. If he should walk to the side of the bed so he can look at her or if he should try and keep his distance. Well, his want to see her and talk to her face to face wins over anything else, and Bellamy walks towards her side of the bed and sits on the floor, leaning his back against the wall she’s facing. 

Red rims her eyes and they’re shiny, but otherwise she doesn’t seem like she’s actively crying anymore. Bellamy rests his head against the wall as he looks at her, but Clarke looks away and buries her face into the pillow. She’s only been a human for a day and a half after being a statue for two hundred and twelve years, and Bellamy has to remind himself that this is as new and strange for her as it is for him.  _ But, in her case, probably a lot more strange _ .

Bellamy takes a quiet, deep breath and lets it out slowly.  _ Here goes nothing _ . “Clarke, I wanted to apologize.” Clarke takes her face out of the pillow and blinks at him. “I can't even begin to imagine how you feel, or what you’re going through. I wasn’t a statue for over two hundred years, and I don’t know how seeing everyone surrounded where you once stood affected you, but, I do know that going out there, especially right now, is going to be a risk. There’s going to be a lot of people there that have spent their lives looking at your statue and, I’m worried that they’ll recognize you.”

“And that there will be doctors wanting to look at my brain?” Clarke mumbles.

“You were right, earlier. I don’t know what’ll happen if you go there, but I want to keep you safe.”

“If I go with you, wouldn’t I be safe?”

_ I wish it were that simple _ . “Is there really no way I’m going to be able to talk you out of this?” Bellamy sighs, and Clarke shakes her head. “Didn’t think so.” Bellamy takes another deep breath as he tries to run over everything in his mind, and Clarke doesn’t take her eyes off him. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Clarke props herself up in the bed and looks down at him. “We can go?”

“Yeah, we can go.” Clarke grins. “But we’re going to have to talk to everyone else first. Monty and Jasper have already started on a back story for you, so if someone tries to talk to you then you’ll have an answer.”

Clarke rests her head on the pillow again and looks at him, smiling softly. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.” Bellamy stands up, and looks down at her. “I’m also sorry for raising my voice earlier.”

“I believe this is the first time a man has apologized to me this much.”

“Well,” Bellamy tilts his head from side to side, a smirk making its way to his face. “Don’t get used to it.”

A knock comes from the door, and Raven calls that breakfast is almost ready, and Clarke puts the pillow aside and stands up in front of him, smiling.  _ She’s so short _ . “If you say so.”

Breakfast today goes similarly to how breakfast the day before did, with Clarke eating her weight in food along with Octavia, but no one keeps stealing glances at Clarke while she eats this time. Well, except Bellamy, but he can’t exactly help himself because as the minutes tick by he can feel himself becoming more and more anxious about bringing Clarke to town square.

“Okay, so, here’s what we have so far.” Monty hops down from his place on the counter and picks up a couple of papers that were sitting beside him. “Your name is Clarke Griffin, and you’re traveling a year abroad from London until you start college, or university.”

“You also did an exchange year in high school, at  _ my _ high school specifically, during junior year, so you’re back and staying with me so you can get to know everyone and see things until you start school,” Octavia chimes in, smiling.

“But we want you to stay as close to the truth as possible,” Raven adds. “So, what are some of the things you like to do? What are you interested in?”

Clarke takes a bite of her cinnamon roll and tilts her head to the side, looking at some spot on the wall. “Well,” she says after a second, “I always loved art, and I had an aptitude for biology.”

“Would you have chosen one of them to study?” Bellamy asks, and Clarke turns to look at him. 

“Well, my lessons were how to be a proper lady, and be the woman of the house. So, art was more of a hobby that I enjoyed doing, but it also made for a good lady. My mother didn’t approve of me studying medicine, but I did enjoy it. So, maybe medicine?”

_ I could definitely see it _ . 

“Perfect!” Raven smiles. “That would be a good answer, especially since it seems like you’ll be able to talk about it if someone asks.”

“Until she brings up using leeches as a way to cleanse the body.” Miller calls over his shoulder, and Bellamy smiles at the way Clarke scrunches up her face.

“They always scared me.”

“What else do we need for a backstory?” Bellamy asks.

“Well, it depends on how much you want to prepare for.” Jasper chimes in. “Honestly, I don’t expect people to just walk up to her and be like ‘hey, where are you from? What’s your social security number?’”

“What’s a social security number?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together.

“They’re used to track how much money you make and how many years you work.” Monty explains.

Bellamy sits there and thinks about how much they really need to be prepared for since it’s really unlikely that someone is going to ask for Clarke’s life story on the sidewalk.  _ But if I bring her somewhere else where they’re going to ask, then we need to be ready for that _ . Conversation breaks out between everyone else, and Clarke seems to be unable to keep up with everything that’s going on, so Bellamy knocks his knee against hers. 

“I know that I said you would need a story, but I think this is good enough for now.”

Clarke smiles. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy smiles, “I’m sure.” He stands and walks over to the sink, rinsing off his plate and putting it in the dishwasher, and Clarke follows behind him to do the same. When he’s done, he turns around and looks at everyone. “I think we should all start getting ready.”

There’s a chorus of agreements, and a few cheers, then, much to Bellamy’s annoyance, Raven and Octavia pull Clarke into his bedroom and lock the door, leaving him staring at it. “They can’t just take my bedroom.”

“Well, technically isn’t it half Clarke’s room now, too?” Jasper raises his eyebrows. “I mean, she can’t just sleep on the couch.”

“She definitely wasn’t sleeping out here when I came to get a drink last night.” Murphy smirks. Miller raises his eyebrows, too, and he shares a look with Monty.

“What? She needed someone to talk to.” Bellamy looks around at his friends and when they don’t say anything, he rests his hands on his hips. “Are all of you really making a big deal out of her sleeping in the same bed as me but not the fact that we’re about to waltz right into a big group of people who  _ want _ to see her?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Miller shrugs, then disappears down the hall towards his room.

“Me either.” Monty waves his hand in the air and follows after Miller. “I need to tell Harper what’s going on. Get me when you’re ready.”

“You’re going to tell her?” Bellamy calls and Monty turns around to look at him, walking backwards.

“Do you really expect me to keep this from her?” Monty’s eyes widen. “She’s already going to be pissed that the weekend she flies back home to see her family this happens. I might as well prepare her for what she’s going to walk back into.” Monty shrugs then disappears into his bedroom.

“I do not want to be there for that.” Jasper shakes his head but starts towards his own room.

“And I just don’t want to be here.” Murphy smirks. “Have fun getting your room back.”

Bellamy stands in the living room, staring at the empty hallway.  _ Where is she going to sleep?  _ Bellamy looks at the couch beside him and then back down the hallway. He knows he’s probably going to have to explain everything to his mom at some point, then there’s classes and homework that he’s going to have to worry about, and the whole situation with getting Clarke new clothes and a place to stay. He knows he can’t sleep on the couch forever, and he doesn’t want to assume that she would want to stay in a house with only guys whether he’s her soulmate or not.  _ There’s so much that’s going to have to get done _ .

Luckily, Bellamy can force his way into the bathroom after Miller gets out, effectively cutting Murphy off which leads to a string of curses while he gets ready to shower, and then he grabs some clean clothes from a hamper in the laundry room that he hadn’t gotten around to folding. There are so many things that they have to try and work through, so much stuff that they’re going to have to try and  _ make _ make sense,  _ but _ , Bellamy reminds himself,  _ this is only the second day she’s here. We have time _ .

Assuming that he won’t be let into his room, Bellamy decides to throw himself onto the couch as he scrolls through all of the messages in the fraternity groupchat. It’s pretty obvious from the start that a lot of people weren’t able to get pictures with the statue because it disappeared, and Bellamy feels a weight lifted off his chest at the fact that the leaders are saying that they’re going to scrap the polaroids, but that whoever has them needs to turn them in anyway.  _ Yeah, not going to happen _ . There are  _ a lot _ of messages that he has to skim over before he can even think about reaching the bottom, and that helps pass the time because whenever he does reach the bottom, Clarke, Octavia, and Raven all spill out of his bedroom.

“Ta-dah!” Octavia holds her arms out towards Clarke and Bellamy lays his phone on his chest as he looks at her, and she spins around.

They’ve pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put what looks like one of Miller’s old baseball hats on her, and she’s wearing jeans, but what really gets him is the shirt she’s wearing. It’s an old Weather High football shirt with BLAKE on the upper back and 18 below it. She wore one of his shirts yesterday, but there’s something about seeing her in one of his shirts with his name on it that stirs something inside of him, and he can’t exactly tell if it’s good or bad.  _ She looks like a girlfriend _ . 

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until Clarke ducks her head a little and asks, “Do you think they’ll recognize me?”

Bellamy’s mouth works, but nothing comes out of it. He hauls himself into a sitting position and clears his throat, looking her over once more. “Y—Yeah. I mean, no, I don’t think they’ll recognize you.” Bellamy can feel the tips of his ears heat up, and he hopes it doesn’t spread to his face.

“Like I said the other night, no one will be able to put together that Clarke, a living-breathing girl from London used to be a solid marble statue. So, don’t worry about it.” Raven crosses her arms over her chest and smiles as she looks at Clarke. “You ready to go see your empty space?”

“Yeah,” Clarke grins, “I think I am.”

“Perfect.” Raven turns around and starts down the hall, calling for everyone to get up and into the living room.

Bellamy tries to distract himself by looking at his phone some more, but he can feel someone lean against the back of the couch and then, “Can I play with your thingy?”

“What?” Bellamy drops his phone into his lap the same time Octavia seems to choke on nothing.

“That.” Clarke points to his lap where his phone is resting on the zipper of his jeans.  _ Not helping. _ “The—uh—I don’t remember the name.” Her face scrunches together as she tries to remember, and Bellamy knows his face is beat red now. It feels like it’s on fire.

“It’s a cell phone, but, yeah, here.” Bellamy picks up his phone and hands it to her without a second thought. “I need some water.” He stands and pointedly avoids making eye contact with Octavia as he moves to grab a water bottle, and he grabs one for clarke without a second thought. 

As everyone else piles into the living room, Bellamy finds it easier to push Clarke’s accidental innuendo out of his mind as they all make their way towards the vehicles. Since there are eight of them, Miller, Monty, Jasper, and Murphy all pile into Miller’s truck while Bellamy, Raven, Clarke, and Octavia all pile into his. Bellamy was thinking that Clarke would sit up front, but Raven ended up sitting shotgun while Clarke and Octavia took the back. They’ve just made it into downtown when a startled gasp comes from the backseat.

When Bellamy looks in the rearview mirror, he can see Clarke is red from her cheeks and down her neck. “What happened?”

“Um…” Clarke doesn’t bring her eyes up to meet his, and her blush darkens.

“What is it?” Octavia leans over, and then her jaw drops. “Oh my god!” Bellamy has to alternate between watching the road and trying to figure out what’s happening in his back seat, but his phone flies into his lap with a huff from Octavia.

“What?”

“Delete the nudes!” Octavia yells, and Bellamy can feel his face heat up.  _ Fuck _ . Rave lets out a low whistle then leans over and turns on the radio.

When he looks in the rearview mirror again, Clarke is pointedly looking out the window and her blush doesn’t seem to be going away. _Yeah, probably should have thought about that_. Bellamy makes a mental note to delete all of the nudes he has in his camera roll as he drives through downtown, but the damage is already done, it seems. Clarke doesn’t say anything for the rest of the ride, and even if Octavia tries to point something out to her, she only smiles a little and nods her head. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._ _I’m not even in a relationship with this girl and I already feel like I’m fucking it up_.

When he pulls into an empty parking spot a few blocks from town square, no one says anything as they get out of the truck, and when Bellamy tries to approach Clarke, Octavia links her arm with hers and sticks her tongue out at Bellamy as they walk towards Raven, but Clarke didn’t seem to notice any of it. 

“What was that about?” Miller appears at Bellamy’s side and Bellamy lets out a long sigh.

“I let Clarke look at my phone and she ended up finding the nudes in my camera roll.”

“She did  _ what? _ ” Murphy stops halfway in his attempt to light his cigarette. “You’re joking. You let her go through your phone?”

“I didn’t think about it!”

“Dude, with the amount of girls you talk to, you should’ve known better.” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t had to worry about anything like that for a while.. All of you know that.” Bellamy groans and runs his hand through his hair.

Murphy sighs as puts his lighter back in his pocket and tucks his cigarette behind his ear. “I would delete those,” is all he says as he starts jogging up the sidewalk to where Octavia and Raven are pointing at something off in the distance.

“Did he actually sound like he...I don’t know—” Jasper trails off...

“Cared?” Monty finishes.

Bellamy watches as Murphy stops behind the girls and they all look when he reaches them, and then he starts pointing at something, too. Someone must say something funny because Clarke laughs, and then, much to Bellamy’s surprise, Murphy pulls Clarke back a little as Octavia and Raven start making their way towards the square, and Miller begins walking that way, too. Since he doesn’t have much choice but to follow, Bellamy keeps his eyes on Clarke and Murphy walking a bit ahead of him and he can tell they’re talking about something, and he would pay to find out what. It isn’t long until Clarke squeezes Murphy’s arm and then jogs to catch up with Octavia and Raven, and Murphy stops walking, waiting for the rest of the guys to catch up.

“What was that about?” Bellamy asks once he reaches him, and Murphy pulls his lighter back out as he puts his cigarette back in his mouth.

“I talked to her for you.” He shrugs.

“Why would you do that?”

“I’m not that much of an asshole.” Murphy rolls his eyes. “You should be grateful, she doesn’t hate you.”

“I should hope not, I didn’t do anything.”

Murphy snorts. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Before Bellamy can even begin to wonder what he means by that, they catch up to where Octavia, Clarke, and Raven have stopped walking at the top of the hill, and Bellamy’s stomach drops. The video on the news didn’t prepare them for just how many people were going to flock to the town square in such a short amount of time after it aired. There’s easily two hundred more people, and a lot more cameras and news crews. Bellamy looks at Clarke, wondering how she’s feeling about this, and he notices that her eyes are wide as she looks at the scene in front of her, but it isn’t the same look he saw earlier.  _ She seems like she’s scared _ . Without really thinking about it, Bellamy reaches out and grabs her hand, and she immediately squeezes it.  _ Well, this is going to be fun _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think? I love hearing from you!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes out

“Wow, that’s a lot of people.” Jasper’s eyes are wide as he looks around. “So, what do we do?”

“Are you still sure that you want to see it?” Bellamy asks, and Clarke turns her gaze towards him. _She looks determined_. She nods a little and Bellamy finds himself doing the same. “Well, okay then.”

“Are we just bulldozing through everyone?” Raven asks, and Bellamy shrugs.

“Don’t see another option.”

“Fine by me.” Raven grins then grabs ahold of Murphy’s jacket sleeve. “We’re leading.”

Everyone follows Raven and Murphy, with Octavia directly behind them, Clarke after her, then Bellamy, Jasper, Monty, and Miller who is taking up the back. There’s not much forcing that has to be done when they reach the edges of the crowd, but Clarke tightens her grip on Bellamy’s hand all the same, and Bellamy squeezes it back. 

There’s a lot of grumbling from other people as Raven and Murphy push their way to the front of the crowd, and when they get to the edge, they part and allow Clarke a front row seat to the memorial that’s been made for her. _Raven said that no one ever believed the story, but what do you call this?_ Near where she used to stand, the people have set up a couple of speakers and there’s a man and woman standing with a microphone. 

“My husband and I have been married for nearly twenty years, and we met right here.” The lady smiles at the man next to her. “I had moved to town a year before but I hadn’t been to the statue, and he was on vacation. As luck would have it, I met my soulmate while taking a picture with the statue who was still trying to find hers.”

“We may not know where she is now, but she certainly helped us find each other.” The man beams at his wife and they even give each other a quick kiss, causing everyone to erupt in a round of applause. The sudden noise causes Clarke to jump, but Bellamy wraps an arm around her shoulders as another couple makes their way up to take the microphone.

“We also met right here…”

And that’s how it goes. Couple after couple shows up to tell the story of how they met each other while holding Clarke’s hand, and as they go, Clarke leans her head on Bellamy’s shoulder. It seems like no one actually believed the story, but that, now, they do believe in soulmates. As people talk, more and more flowers get brought up to the memorial, and Bellamy is glad that they came. _Am I going to have to say that I was wrong?_ As Bellamy tries to figure that out, drums start up out of nowhere, and Clarke clutches to his jacket.

“Bellamy,” Clarke’s voice is strained, and he turns to look at her.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s—” As the drums get closer, Clarke’s face pales. “It’s a lot. Too much.”

“It’s okay. I got you.” Bellamy tightens his hold around Clarke’s shoulders and she presses herself to him as he leans over and taps Raven on the shoulder. “I think she’s getting overwhelmed.”

Raven looks from Bellamy to Clarke and back again. “I’m ready to get out of here anyway.”

Miller takes the lead in getting everyone out of the crowd, and Clarke loosens her grip on Bellamy’s jacket, but not completely. “Hey, you okay?” Bellamy turns to look at Clarke and she turns her blue eyes towards him. _Yeah, they have to be staring into my soul._

“I think so.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, and Bellamy can see the way her eyes begin to shine. “But I really enjoyed getting to see how much I—well, my statue—helped people. I didn’t realize that this is what was happening.” 

“I may not have believed in soulmates, but I know you inspired a lot of people. That one included.” Bellamy points at Octavia who laughs at something Murphy says.

Clarke smiles and Bellamy’s heart beats a little faster. “I think we may have to believe in soulmates now.”

Bellamy raises an eyebrow. “Already sure I’m the one? Can’t you at least take me to dinner first?” He teases.

Clarke lets out a sweet laugh and smirks. “Maybe I’ll reconsider.” 

“Hey!” Monty calls. “Lets get some coffee.”

“Yeah, it’ll be quieter.” Miller adds, and Clarke bounces on the balls of her feet.

“My father used to let me drink some of his coffee when my mother wasn’t looking. It was very bitter, but I enjoyed it being our secret.” 

“Something tells me the princess wasn’t as good as she led people to believe.” Bellamy teases and he’s rewarded with a bright smile.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She continues to smile as she turns and begins to walk towards the rest of the group, and Bellamy is left watching her. _I am so in over my head_.

Monty and Octavia lead the way to their favorite coffee shop, and Bellamy hangs back behind the group, content to just watch Clarke interact with everyone while he tries to organize his thoughts. _Since we’re out, maybe we can go ahead and get her some clothes. I can talk to Raven about Clarke staying with her. Assuming Clarke wants to. Then I have class tomorrow morning…_

Bellamy’s thoughts are cut off as his phone rings and he pulls it out, the picture of him and his mom on her last birthday lighting up the screen. _Oh no._

“Hey, mom.” 

“Hey, darling, is Octavia with you? She’s not answering her phone.”

“Yeah, I got her. We're downtown right now.”

“Oh, did you bring her to see the memorial for the missing statue? You know she’s always loved it.” 

“Yeah, all of us went to see it. We’re going to get some coffee now, but how’s work?” 

“You know, same as usual. My boss…”

Bellamy listens as his mom tells him the changes that are being made at the clinic, and how she’s offered to take a week's worth of her coworker’s shifts since she’s sick. Aurora Blake has always had a big heart, and she’s always gotten taken advantage of for it. Growing up, she always worked herself more than anyone should have to in order to provide for him and Octavia, and even though Bellamy did what he could, it was never enough. So, his job became to take care of Octavia while his mother worked. 

“How are your classes going so far?” 

“They’re good, but, you know, classes just started so there’s a lot of time for things to change. I have all A’s right now though.”

“I don’t doubt that, darling. I told you that you’d appreciate me forcing you to go.”

“I know, mom.” Bellamy smiles. “Are you really going to make me say ‘you told me so’ again?” 

“You know that’s a parent’s dream.” He can hear his mom laugh down the line.

“But—”

“Bellamy!” Clarke calls, and Bellamy looks over at her. Somehow she’s made her way into a tree in front of the coffee shop and Bellamy wonders how he missed her climb it. 

“Oh, who is that?”

“Uh, just one of Raven’s friends. We’re at the coffee shop so I gotta go.”

“Well, okay then. But tell your sister that she needs to be home at 7 o’clock. She has school tomorrow.”

“Alright, I will. Love you, mom.”

“Love you, too, honey. Tell everyone I say hi, and I’ll see you Wednesday for dinner, right?” 

“Of course.”

“Perfect. See you then.”

“Bye, mom.”

 _Shit. I completely forgot about dinner._ Bellamy pockets his cellphone and makes his way to where Clarke is still grinning at him from the tree, but their friends aren’t anywhere to be seen. The thought hits him. _Our friends._

“How did you get up there?” Bellamy asks, crossing his arms over his chest, and Clarke shrugs.

“I wanted to see if I could still climb and apparently I can. I used to love climbing the tree in the courtyard.” 

“Well how are you planning on getting down?” 

“Um...I didn’t think about that.” Clarke looks around and bites at her bottom lip.

“Do you need help?” 

She brings her attention to him, a small smile making its way onto her face. “Possibly.”

Bellamy snorts and shakes his head as he walks forward, standing near Clarke’s dangling legs. “I got you, okay?”

“Okay.” 

Bellamy grabs Clarke’s legs and she slides herself off the limb until she can brace her hands against Bellamy’s shoulders, and Bellamy lowers her slowly until her feet are touching the ground, and she smiles up at him. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, don’t try to climb anything else or I’m going to leave you there.”

“You wouldn’t.” 

“Want to test it?” Bellamy challenges, and Clarke tilts her chin up to look at him. 

“Maybe later.” Clarke smiles then grabs his hand, pulling him towards the coffee shop. “Now, I’d like to try your modern age coffee.”

Bellamy can’t help but laugh as Clarke pulls him into the shop. Everyone is gathered a little bit away from the cash register talking about what they’re going to get, and Clarke looks around.

“This place smells nice.”

Miller turns around and smiles. “That’s the caffeine.”

The cash register sounds and Clarke jumps a little as she looks at it, leaning in to whisper in Bellamy’s ear. “What is that?”

“It’s a cash register,” Bellamy whispers, “it’s where you pay for your stuff.” 

“Huh.” Clarke eyes the machine until Octavia pulls her towards the case with all of the pastries in it.

In the end, Bellamy goes for just a plain black coffee but Clarke, Octavia, and Jasper all get frozen mochas with chocolate and whipped cream, and everyone else gets latés. Since outside is still pretty loud, even a few blocks away from town square, they all opt to stay inside and they commandeer a couple of tables near the windows. Bellamy is sitting across from Clarke as a bunch of pastries get laid out between them, and he watches as she takes in everything around her. 

The coffee shop is all dark wood and calm music, and Clarke smiles as she looks towards the ceiling where there’s a lot of portraits of famous writers and artists. Bellamy has been coming here for as long as he can remember, and it’s a popular hangout for college students to study and do homework and just chill when they want to get away for awhile.

“How do you like the coffee?” Jasper turns to look at Clarke. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“I love it.” Clarke smiles, and gestures at the food in front of her. “When do we begin eating these?”

Everyone digs in immediately, with Murphy telling Clarke that she needs to try one of the chocolate chip brownies first, then Miller offers the blueberry muffin, then everyone else follows suit with scones and cupcakes. _Honestly, we’ll be lucky if she doesn’t leave with a cavity_. Conversation flows freely, and Bellamy lets himself relax and not think about everything that they’re going to have to deal with once nighttime comes. 

“Since we’re out, can we go shopping?” Clarke asks as she pops a chocolate covered espresso bean into her mouth.

“Yes!” Octavia grins. “We can get that dress you saw last night.”

There’s a chorus of agreements about going to the mall and when Clarke looks at Bellamy expectantly, he realizes that she’s waiting for him to say something. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” 

“Really?” Clarke’s face lights up and Bellamy feels a pang in his chest. _Have I really made the impression that I don’t want to do anything?_

“Yeah,” Bellamy smiles, “I think it’d be fun.”

That causes a new conversation to break out among everyone and Bellamy leans back in his chair and continues to watch his friends talk about everything they want to show Clarke once they get there. Since everyone is way more excited to get to the mall, they can’t get out of the coffee shop fast enough and back towards the vehicles. This time, Clarke hangs back with Bellamy, and he finds that he likes it. But then, something starts nagging at him and Bellamy turns towards her.

“I wanted to apologize, you know, for earlier.” 

Clarke glances at him, and Bellamy is pretty sure his stomach is stuck in his throat. “You don’t need to. Murphy explained it.”

“Yeah, but, see,” Bellamy reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, “I don’t really know what Murphy said and he’s known to make situations worse.”

“Well, he obviously improved this situation, didn’t he?” Clarke smirks at him. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Are you really not going to tell me?” Bellamy can feel a smile pulling its way to his lips, just as Clarke’s smirk widens. 

“No, I’m not. If you really want to know then you should ask Murphy.”

“Murphy won’t tell me the truth.”

“Then,” Clarke says as she links her arms with his, “I’m afraid you may just have to suffer.”

“You’re being mean to me when I tried to apologize to you.” Bellamy shakes his head. 

“In my defense, you did not need to apologize, but I accept it nonetheless.” Clarke smiles up at him and Bellamy finds that he really can’t be upset with any of it. _Well, whatever Murphy said, at least it worked_. Then, without another word, she smiles and jogs to catch up with everyone else.

The ride to the mall is a lot better than the last bit of time during the ride to town square, and Clarke seems to be in a better mood since she’s asking a lot of questions. _What’s that? It’s a billboard. And what exactly are we driving on? And why is it in the air? It’s an interstate, it connects all of the states together and helps us get places quicker. What’s that place? What’s that flying in the air? How are we even moving?_ If it were anyone else, Bellamy would probably be annoyed, like when Octavia was a kid and wanted to know everything, but now, he finds Clarke’s curiosity adorable.

As soon as they walk through the doors of the mall, Raven and Octavia each grab one of Clarke’s arms and start her towards the escalators while explaining what they are. “You can’t just take her!” Bellamy follows after them, and they all turn around to look at him.

“ _Clarke_ needs clothes, Bell. We’re the only ones who can go with her.”

“I know, but—”

“No, _buts_ , Bellamy.” Raven smirks. “She’s ours.”

 _What is this? Gang up on Bellamy day?_ Bellamy sighs. “How long are you guys going to be?”

“We don’t know. I’ll call you!” Octavia calls over her shoulder as they reach the top of the escalator, once again, leaving Bellamy staring after his friend and little sister hauling Clarke away.

“Dude, get a grip.” Murphy appears at Bellamy’s side.

“Yeah, you look like a kid who just had his ice cream stolen.” Miller teases and Bellamy rolls his eyes.

“Remind me why I’m friends with you guys again.”

“Because we’re awesome.” Jasper grins. 

“Debatable.” Bellamy runs a hand through his hair. “Well, I guess we have time to kill.”

Bellamy and the guys wander through some of the stores, complaining about the ‘dress code’ that the fraternity has, and trying to figure out just how much they can get away with before they get in trouble. _Maybe I can just drop the whole frat thing_. 

“No, you can’t.” Miller turns his attention from the polo he’s looking at to Bellamy, and Bellamy hadn’t realized he said it out-loud. “If I’m in this, you’re in this.”

“But I didn’t even want to be in this in the first place. We’re in this because of Murphy,” Bellamy grumbles.

“Why did we let him talk us into this?”

“Hell if I remember,” Bellamy sighs, and puts down the khakis he’s holding. “Okay, we’ve been walking around for nearly _three hours_.”

“You want to go find her, don’t you?” Miller raises an eyebrow and Bellamy shrugs.

“I’m getting hungry.”

With a text from Octavia, Bellamy finds her, Clarke, and Raven in Macy’s with bags from various stores. _JC Penny, H &M, American Eagle_... _How the hell did they go to so many places?_ Altogether it looks like they have at least fifteen bags, and Bellamy can’t do anything except blink at them. 

“We shopped.” Clarke smiles. 

“Yeah, I can see that.” Bellamy shakes his head a little. “Here, let me take some of those.” He takes a few of the bags from her. 

“Now I won’t have to keep taking your shirts.”

“It’s no problem.” Bellamy smiles at her. _Though it might help with my sanity_. “But after all of this please tell me y’all are hungry, because I’m starving.”

There’s a murmur of agreements and Bellamy leads the way out of the store and towards the food court. The guys are already digging into their food, and they all raise their eyebrows when they notice all of the bags, but none of them say anything. Bellamy walks Clarke through all of the options that they have to eat, and when she settles on one, he walks her there.

“How was shopping?”

“It was fun.” Clarke smiles. “But I think I’m a little tired now.”

“Yeah, three hours of non-stop shopping will do that to you.” 

“Did you do any shopping?”

“A little, but not as much as the three of you it seems.” Bellamy smirks. Once their food is ordered and they’re waiting for Bellamy’s name to be called, Clarke looks at him.

“Do you think they would be upset if I said I wanted to go home? Being here is starting to be—”

“A little much?” Bellamy guesses, and Clarke nods her head. “No, they’ll understand.” He reaches out and squeezes her arm. “We’ll eat and then head back.”

 _She just said home._ The realization dawns on Bellamy as his name is called. _My home_. As Bellamy walks up to grab their food, he shakes his head a little, trying to push away his feelings about it. _Of course, she’s going to see my place as her home, it’s all she has_. A pang shoots through Bellamy’s chest as he thinks it, but he knows it’s true. And the earlier thoughts of where she’s going to actually live flit back into his mind and he tries pushing them away, too. _One thing at a time. We just need to get her back to the house_. 

While they eat, Clarke talks about some of the things she’s bought, mostly pants and shirts, dresses, a few jackets, some jewelry, a couple pairs of shoes, and Bellamy lets out a silent sigh of relief when she stops there. He noticed the Victoria’s Secret bags, but he also has a present for her inside his pants pocket that he’s going to give her once they get back. Sure, he could give it to her now, but he wants to be able to show it to her without everyone else butting in. 

After they eat, and a quick modern-food lesson, they all pile back into the trucks and head back to the house, and Monty calls Raven and says that they’re going to make a stop at the airport to pick Harper up then they’ll head back to the house, too. By the time Bellamy pulls into the driveway, Raven and Octavia are asleep, and he doesn’t want to wake either of them up because the last time he woke Raven up she elbowed him in the face, and Octavia kicks, but they get up without a fight whenever Clarke wakes them, and then promptly pass back out on the couch.

“Where can I put my clothes?” Clarke looks around the living room before settling on Bellamy. _I hadn’t thought about that_.

“You can put them in my room.” Bellamy nods towards his bedroom and leads the way to it, pushing the door open with his foot. “I don’t have much in the closet so we could probably get some hangers from everyone else, and then I’ll clear out some of the drawers.”

“You don’t have to.” Bellamy stops opening his drawers and looks at her. Her eyebrows are knitted together and the corners of her mouth are turned down. “I mean, you’ve already done so much, and I know that there’s a lot that we still have to figure out, and I know this must be difficult for you—”

“Hey.” Bellamy places his hands on Clarke’s shoulders and she looks up at him, her eyes shining. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just...I know this is a lot. Believe me, my head hasn’t stopped spinning since I woke up, but I don’t want you to uproot your life because of me.”

“Clarke, if I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t.” Her bottom lip protrudes slightly as he looks at her, and his chest aches. “We’ll figure it out, you just have to give it time.”

Clarke blinks at him a few times before nodding, and she lets her bags fall to the floor as she wraps her arms around his waist. “Thank you, Bell.”

The sound of his nickname, that only his family calls him, coming off her lips causes Bellamy to tighten his hold on her. _Out of everyone, I’m supposed to be the person she connects with the best_. _How do you handle that?_ Clarke buries her face in his chest and Bellamy places a kiss to the top of her head. _We’ll figure it out. We have to._

“I have something for you. Maybe it’ll cheer you up,” Bellamy murmurs, and Clarke pulls back to look at him.

“What is it?”

Bellamy unwraps one arm from around her and reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a phone. Clarke’s eyes go wide as she looks at it and Bellamy laughs a little awkwardly. “I figured that if you were going to be here, then you need a way to get in touch with everyone.”

“A cell phone? For me?”

“Yeah.” Bellamy smiles. “Can I help you set it up?”

“I wouldn’t know how to.” Clarke says and Bellamy can feel the tips of his ears turn red.

“No, I know—I just—I didn’t know if you would want O or Raven to show you or something.”

“I’d like for you to show me.” Clarke smiles softly, and Bellamy doesn’t miss the way a slight blush spreads across her cheekbones. 

“Okay.” Bellamy smiles and Clarke crawls onto the bed, patting the spot beside her. “So, it opens using your face…”

Bellamy makes sure to be very thorough in explaining everything to her, even though he knows there’s a very good possibility that she’s going to have to still ask questions later on, but he doesn’t want to believe that he didn’t do his best in trying to help her learn. Clarke sits there and nods along, asking questions whenever she’s confused if Bellamy doesn’t realize she’s confused and elaborates before she even asks. When he’s done, Clarke unlocks the phone and then pulls up the camera.

“Can we take a picture together?” She bites at her bottom lip.

“Yeah, sure.” 

Clarke holds up the camera like a pro and snaps a picture then pulls it up, and giggles. “I like it. My first picture.”

“I like it, too.” Bellamy watches as Clarke pulls up messages and sends him the picture, then, much to his amazement, goes into settings and ends up setting it as her home screen. _Huh._ When his phone goes off with the text from her, he has the fleeting thought of setting the picture as his home screen, too, but decides against it. Then, all hell breaks loose as the front door to the house opens and everyone else piles inside.

“I leave for _three days_ and the statue in town square goes missing all for me to find out it’s because Bellamy fucking Blake has a soulmate?” Harper’s voice rings throughout the house and it throws Clarke into a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Bellamy can feel the corners of his mouth turning upwards, and Clarke keeps laughing as she looks at him.

“Everyone is so surprised that it’s you.” She clamps her hand over her mouth and after a second she calms down. “You seem to have made an impression about soulmates.”

“Yeah,” Bellamy runs a hand through his hair, “but, like I said I want you here with me.”

“I know.” Clarke smiles, and that weird feeling returns to Bellamy’s chest.

“Come on, you need to meet Harper.”

Bellamy takes Clarke’s hand as he leads her down the hallway and Harper is standing with her hands on her hips facing away from them, but Miller nods over her shoulder and she turns around, her eyes wide. 

“Hi, Harper.” Clarke lets go of Bellamy’s hand and walks towards the other girl. “I’m Clarke.”

“Holy shit, she’s real.” Harper gapes at Clarke. “You’re real.”

“Yeah, I am.” Clarke moves and holds her hand out, but Harper wraps her up in a hug. “Everyone’s told me so much about you, I’m glad to finally meet you.”

“You, too.” Harper looks at Bellamy over Clarke’s shoulder an mouths “ _oh my god_ ,” and Bellamy can’t help but smirk. “I can’t believe you’re his soulmate.”

“Yeah, no one can it seems.” Clarke looks over her shoulder and glances at Bellamy before turning back to Harper. “I suppose you must have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah,” Harper nods her head, her eyes still a little wide. “Maybe a few.”

Everyone settles around in the living room and Clarke answers Harper’s questions, with a few others asking their own, but, overall, it’s pretty similar to when Clarke told them her story the first time. Bellamy even feels the same ache in his chest at the fact that Clarke’s mother could be so cruel. Then, Raven and Octavia bring Harper and Clarke into Bellamy’s bedroom so Clarke can show Harper some of the things she bought Bellamy has the strong urge to bang his head against something.

“They have to stop doing that.” He groans and lays down on the living room floor.

“You just want to see her in her new outfits.” Murphy snorts, and Bellamy takes a pillow off the couch and throws it at him.

“Shut up, Murphy.”

“Well, I have something that might cheer you up.” Monty smiles from above him. “We got new games today.”

Bellamy lets Jasper and Monty pull him into a round of Black Ops and he lets himself get over the annoyance at the fact girls keep stealing his room, but that doesn’t last long until Clarke walks out of the hallway in a dress and Bellamy gets killed instantly in the game. 

“I thought she would need a dress if you went to a party.” Raven smirks and folds her arms over her chest. “Damn, I’m good.”

Clarke stands at the end of the hallway in front of the other girls, fiddling with the hem of her dress, like she’s trying to pull it down. “I’ve never worn anything like this. It’s very tight.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Harper assures her. “But I doubt you’ll have to wear it very often.”

Clarke looks down at the dress then peeks up at Bellamy through her eyelashes. “Do you like it?”

Bellamy’s throat works, but nothing comes out of it until Miller knocks him with his elbow. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s good.” Bellamy stumbles over his words, and he’s pretty sure his friends are going to joke about it later, but Clarke smiles and Bellamy can’t help but smile back.

“See,” Octavia grins, “I told you he’d love it.”

 _Oh, god._ Bellamy runs one of his hands over his forehead. _It’s only been two days_. Thankfully, Octavia doesn’t say anything else, but they disappear back into Bellamy’s room and Bellamy sighs as he leans back into the couch and starts playing the game again. _I don’t even know if I could bring her to a party. It might be too risky._

“Dad!” Jasper pushes Bellamy’s shin.

“What?” Bellamy grumbles.

“I asked what are we having for dinner?”

“We literally just ate like two hours ago.”

“Yeah, but I’m hungry.” Jasper sighs.

“How do y’all feel about pizza?” Miller asks, not looking up from his phone. “We haven’t had that in a while.”

“Yeah, pizza sounds good. Mainly because I don’t want to cook.” 

As the sun goes down, Bellamy starts wondering about what’s going to happen tomorrow when they all go back to class. Everyone in the house will be gone, Octavia will be back home, and Raven will be on campus, too, so Bellamy has no idea what’s going to happen with Clarke. After she got overwhelmed today, he’s not entirely sure if he wants to bring her to campus where there’s going to be thousands and thousands of students, or if he wants to risk leaving her alone by herself and possibly burning the house down.

When everyone emerges from Bellamy’s room, Bellamy actually feels a little disappointed that Clarke’s not wearing one of his shirts, and Clarke goes around the room taking pictures with everyone. Miller pays for the pizzas and everyone settles around the living room with Clarke sitting on the couch and Bellamy somehow finding himself sitting in front of her on the floor. He doesn’t remember actively choosing to sit there, but it just sort of happened, and he wonders if it’s always going to be like this. Grabbing her hand, wanting to be near her, getting excited when she’s excited...he’s not entirely sure what to do with himself.

“So, Clarke,” Harper starts as she picks up a slice of pizza, “are you coming to campus tomorrow?”

“Campus?” Bellamy can hear the question in her voice, and even though he can’t see her face, it’s like he can see her with her eyebrows knitted together and her head tilted to the side.

“To college, or university,” Monty adds.

“Yeah, are you coming to class with us tomorrow?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know.” The couch cushions shift behind Bellamy and he leans his head back to look up at her. 

“Do you want to come?”

“Do you think that’s a good idea? I’m not entirely sure how well I would fit in.”

“I’m sure you’ll fit in fine, but some of my classes are too small to bring you to without having the teacher ask who you are.”

“I’m sure we could figure something out,” Jasper offers. “Maybe she can go to one class with you, one class with me, you know. Switch around.”

“You make it sound like she’s a ball we can pass back and forth to each other.” Miller snorts.

“I like that idea.” Clarke looks down at Bellamy. “Do you think it would work?”

“I don’t see why not.” Bellamy shrugs.

“Okay,” she smiles. “I’d like to do that.”

“Okay.” Bellamy smiles a little, too.

While they eat, they also figure out what the plan is going to be for getting Clarke from one place to another, and it isn’t as hard as they thought it would be. She’s going to go to history with Bellamy since it’s at 8:30, then she’s going to go to chemistry with Jasper at 9:30, then biology with Monty, sociology with Miller, lunch with Raven, since Raven is the only one free, and then meet back up with Bellamy once he gets out of class. They tried telling her that she didn’t have to go to all of the classes, but she insisted that she wanted to see what things were like now and, well, they weren’t going to argue with her. Bellamy would have wanted to do the same thing.

Much like the night before, everyone lounges around and tries walking through things with Clarke and preparing her for what to expect once she gets to campus in the morning. Bellamy doesn’t move from his spot in front of her, and at some point Clarke starts playing with his hair, much like how he woke up the other day. And he finds that he likes it. Eventually, Bellamy has to send Octavia home but not without her having Clarke promise that she’ll update her on everything, and Bellamy reminding Octavia that she’s not supposed to have her phone at school. 

Raven leaves shortly after, and before long, everyone starts shuffling towards their rooms, leaving Bellamy and Clarke in the living room. He decided earlier that he would take the couch for the time being until they figure out a more permanent sleeping situation, since he didn’t want to ask Raven just yet, so once he’s finished getting ready for bed, he grabs a pillow and a blanket from the top of his closet.

“What are those for?” Clarke is sitting cross-legged on his bed, brushing through her hair.

“I’m going to take the couch tonight, give you a chance to actually get some sleep.”

“I got sleep last night.” Clarke sets the brush down, and even in the glowing yellow light of his lamp, her eyes are still the bluest he’s ever seen. 

“Everything’s still new, so, I don’t want to—”

“Start sleeping together?” Clarke grins and Bellamy lets out a surprised laugh.

“Yeah, uh, I guess that’s one way to put it.” 

“In that case, I could take the couch. I know we’ve taken your room a lot today, so I don’t want to take it while you sleep.”

“No, it’s fine. Really, I don’t mind.” Bellamy hoists up the blanket and motions towards the door. “I’ll be out there if you need me, okay?”

“Okay.” Clarke smiles a little. “Goodnight, Bellamy.”

“Goodnight, Princess.”

Bellamy actually falls asleep pretty quickly and he assumes it's because of the fact that he walked around the mall for too long and may have had a little too much pizza. He dreams of nothing, but something wakes him up and he’s not sure if it’s because he’s never been able to sleep on the couch properly or if it’s because he feels like there’s something wrong. Unable to shake the feeling, Bellamy gets up and pads towards his bedroom door as silently as he can, and he can hear Clarke sniffling on the other side of it. 

He pushes his door open and finds Clarke on her side like he had that morning. She doesn’t move as he makes his way towards the bed, and when he lays down next to her, he places his hand on her arm and gently turns her over. Clarke curls into him as she continues to cry, and Bellamy curses himself for not thinking about how she’s feeling. She clutches to his shirt and he holds her as he murmurs into her hair that she’s going to be okay. Of course, there’s no way of knowing how all of this is going to go, but he knows that he’s not going to let her deal with it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course he's not going to let her do it alone ;) I've enjoyed hearing all of your thoughts about this story! It's wonderful getting to see what everyone thinks and getting to talk to you! <3
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke goes to class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I’m sorry I forgot to update Friday

Bellamy wakes up feeling really warm, and when he forces himself to open his eyes, he sees that he basically draped himself over Clarke in his sleep. His arm is banded around her waist, his head is on her shoulder, and their legs tangled together, but when Bellamy moves to get off her, her hand that’s resting across his tightens, effectively keeping him in place.

Bellamy turns to look at her, and her face scrunches up before she blinks her eyes open and looks down at him. “I have to get ready for class,” he murmurs.

“And me?” Her eyes flutter closed and Bellamy smiles.

“I get up really early, so I’ll wake you up later.”

“Mhm.” Clarke nods her head and it lulls to the side, and her grip on his hand loosens. As Bellamy untangles himself from her, he runs his thumb over the back of her hand, and he’s pretty sure she smiles a little even though she’s sound asleep.

Bellamy grabs some clothes and makes his way into his bathroom as quietly as he can then starts getting ready. He’s not entirely sure how well their plan is going to go, but after Clarke finished crying last night, she told him that she was really excited to go to class. She didn’t want to talk about why she was crying, but he knew it was because she was mourning her old life—her lost life—and he didn’t know what to do except hold her and tell her that she had a new home. Because, she does...even if the idea of having a girl who used to be a statue and is supposedly his soulmate living with him scares him to no end. 

An hour later, Bellamy walks out of the bathroom and kneels beside the bed. Clarke’s lips are parted slightly and she’s making a little whistle that causes him to smile, and he almost doesn’t want to wake her up, but he wants to bring her to get coffee before they go to class.

“Clarke,” Bellamy whispers, and shakes her shoulder lightly. “Clarke, it’s time to wake up.”

“Nuh-uh.” Her face scrunches together as she presses her head further into the pillow. 

“But you have to get ready if you want to come to class with me.”

Clarke pops one of her eyes opens. “History?”

“Yeah, history.” Bellamy smiles. “You still want to come?”

“Mhm.” Clarke smiles, too, then rolls onto her back and yawns, making little noises that Bellamy wishes he found annoying, but he doesn’t. “How much time do I have?”

“An hour. I wanted to bring you to get coffee before we went.” Bellamy stands and stretches.

“Another frozen one?” Clarke’s face lights up and Bellamy chuckles lightly.

“Whatever you want. I’ll let you get ready.”

Clarke emerges forty-five minutes later in a pair of leggings and a light gray, short-sleeve henley, but he notices that she’s also carrying a sweatshirt that looks like one of his. “Raven and Harper said that if I’m going to all of those classes then I should be comfortable.” She looks down at her clothes. “Am I dressed appropriately?”

“Yeah, you look good. You’ll fit right in.”

“Thank you.” Clarke ducks her head a little. “Raven also told me that some classes are cold, but all of my warm clothes smelled funny. I know I said that I wouldn’t keep taking your clothes, but—”

“No, it’s fine. They look better on you than they do me.” It’s the truth, at least in his mind, but when she blushes Bellamy makes a mental note to quit accidentally flirting with her. 

As they drive to get coffee, Clarke keeps her face pressed near the window as she looks out at the city and all of the lights. She asks him a few questions, and surprises him when she says that she’ll have to draw it at some point. Apparently Monty told Harper that Clarke liked drawing and she ended up buying Clarke a sketchbook and some drawing supplies, and Bellamy wonders why he didn’t think to do that. Once they get their coffee, Bellamy finishes the short drive to campus and then he and Clarke make their way to the classroom.

“This is the English building.” Bellamy points to one of the buildings to Clarke’s right. “Not all of the English classes are held there, but most of them are. It’s where the English Department is.”

“It’s pretty.” Clarke smiles as she takes a sip of her coffee. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.” 

“I know I said I would maybe study medicine when everyone asked, but the truth is I always wanted to become a doctor. I dreamed of going to Cambridge.”

“Is that something you would still want to do?”

“I do not believe I could learn everything I would need to.” Clarke looks at him. “Not to mention this is only my third day here and I’ve had a constant headache trying to remember everything already.”

“Oh, you should have told me.” Bellamy shrugs his backpack off his shoulder and somehow manages to pull out a pack of advil while also holding his coffee. “There’s a water fountain you can use, near the class. These should help with the headache.”

“What are they?” Clarke looks down as he hands her two pills. 

“It’s advil. It’ll help with the pain.” 

“Thank you.” Clarke smiles.

“You’re welcome.” 

And just like that, she smiles at him and he feels like his day is going to be better. He shows her the water fountain and even though she seems skeptical of drinking water coming out of a metal thing that everyone is supposed to drink out of, she uses it and says that she likes the idea. Then, Bellamy guides her to the back of the classroom, to the very last row, and he watches as Clarke looks around. 

“It’s very plain.” 

“Yeah, they don’t put much into decorating the buildings.” Bellamy says as he pulls out his notebook and a pen. “And there are a lot of different classes that get taught in here so they can’t just decorate it for one thing.”

“Do all of the classrooms look like this?” 

“No, some of them look a lot better, and others look a lot worse.” _Like my other classroom that’s missing a ceiling and is flooded._

“Huh.” Clarke looks around more as students file into the classroom, and no one pays her any attention. 

The teacher shows up at exactly 8:30 and there’s a little small talk about their weekend and they ask if everyone else had a good one. There’s some mumbled responses, but by now, a month into school, the teacher knows that none of their students are awake this early in the morning. Except Bellamy, but he’s used to getting up early. The teacher moves into the lecture, and Bellamy notices that Clarke seems more interested than anyone else in the room.

“Now, the British military was very depleted, and yet they still won.”

Clarke lets out a snort beside Bellamy. “Not without us,” she mumbles.

Bellamy ignores her, and the teacher goes on, but the more the teacher talks the more annoyed Clarke seems to be. Finally, after her third long but soft sigh, Bellamy turns to her. “Clarke, you’re being disrespectful.”

“And she’s disrespecting my people. We’re even.” Clarke narrows her eyes at him, but he just shakes his head as he turns back to the lecture. It’s not long until his pen gets taken out of his hand while he’s writing, and he looks to see Clarke writing in the margins. “ _She’s wrong.”_ Bellamy takes his pen back and tries to catch up on what he’s missing, but Clarke taps his calf with her foot, and he shakes his head. 

“Not now,” he mutters under his breath, and Clarke huffs as she leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Thankfully there’s only ten minutes of class left, and even though they go by at a near torturous pace, the teacher dismisses them and Bellamy can’t seem to get Clarke out fast enough.

“Clarke, you can’t do that.” Bellamy sighs once they’re out of the building. 

“I can’t tell you that what you’re being taught isn’t correct? How do they expect people to learn the truth?”

“And how do you know what the truth is? They were talking about the French Revolution!”

“Because I lived it, Bellamy!” Clarke’s voice rises and Bellamy looks around to make sure no one heard her. _I should have known._ “The crown needed more people to fill their ranks, their navy, and they asked my father for help. It’s always the crown that receives the credit, and not the thousands of men who laid their lives on the line.”

“I thought you were British?”

“Technically, I suppose I am. We lived on the coast.” Clarke gets a far away look in her eyes as she speaks. “You could see the water go on for miles, and whenever my father had free time he would bring me to see it. It was a small country, but we lived in peace, and it was never on any maps but our own. I’m not surprised it was assimilated.” 

“Clarke—”

“I’m sorry for bothering you during class. If you ever decide to bring me again I promise I won’t.” 

Bellamy sighs inwardly. “It’s okay, I understand why you did it.” He reaches up and runs his hand over the back of his neck. “But, next time, I'll make sure you can write down your complaints.”

“So, there’s going to be a next time?” One of her eyebrows raises and Bellamy smirks.

“Yeah, there will be a next time.”

His phone goes off with a call from Jasper and they make their way towards the chemistry building. Once they meet up with Jasper, Bellamy tells Clarke to text him if she needs anything, then he makes his way across campus to his next class. 

Bellamy has four classes today, two back to back, a two hour break where he usually gets lunch and does his homework, and then another two hours worth of class. Usually, he’s really good about paying attention and being able to focus himself enough to get work done, but the idea of Clarke walking around campus, even if she’s with their friends, is enough to have him checking his phone every five minutes even though he’s never on his phone during class. 

He pulls up Clarke’s name in his messages, and the picture of the two of them that she took stares at him as he texts her.

_How’s chemistry?_

He locks his phone and puts it in his lap with the screen down, trying to focus back on his work, but his phone vibrates instantly.

_I’ve never been very good at it, but Jasper is a natural_

_Attachment: 1 image_

_I believe I’m catching on with how the phone works_

The picture is of Jasper explaining something on his computer screen, some sort of molecule that Bellamy’s never seen before. Bellamy smirks.

_You should have seen him when he was younger, he liked mixing chemicals to see how they would react_

_But I think you’re doing great as far as learning how a phone works_

“Mr. Blake.” The teacher clears his throat and Bellamy drops his phone into his lap. “Thank you. Now, if there is something more important than what I am teaching, please, take it outside.”

“I’m sorry, professor. It won’t happen again.” 

“Good.” 

Bellamy slips his phone into his backpack that’s resting between his legs, and for the rest of class, he tries not to think about it. 

Once he gets out of class, he texts Clarke back and asks her how her head is feeling, and then he puts his phone off to the side while he tries to get some work done. It’s difficult, and even when he _knows_ his phone hasn’t gone off, he still checks it. After an hour, he stops by the bookstore, then heads to the dining hall and grabs lunch, after that makes his way to his third class. All while texting Clarke. The last two hours feel longer than usual, and by the time he gets out of his last class, he practically sprints to the auditorium. 

Raven and Clarke are standing outside when he gets there and Clarke smiles when she sees him. “I had fun.” 

“I’m glad.” 

“And I gotta get to class.” Raven stands and wraps Clarke in a hug. Which freaks Bellamy out a little because Raven never hugs anyone. “We definitely have to get lunch again.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“See ya, Blake.”

“Bye, Raven.” Bellamy nods at his friend then turns to Clarke, who yawns. “Ready to go?”

“And for a nap.”

Bellamy snorts. “College will do that to you.” 

On their car ride back, Clarke tells Bellamy about how there’s so much stuff that she needs to be caught up on, and that there’s a man called Captain America who was frozen for seventy-five years? Bellamy chuckles and tells her that it’s a movie and, if she wants, then they can watch it tonight when everyone gets home. 

When they’re inside, Bellamy watches as Clarke shuffles to the couch then lays down on it, hugging one of the pillows to her chest. “Can I take the couch?” 

“Well you’re already laying down on it.” Bellamy points out and Clarke gives him a sleepy smile as she nods her head. “You can take the bed.”

“If you’re going to take the couch at night I can take it for a nap. That way we’re both sleeping on it and it doesn’t make me feel as bad.” 

“Fair enough.” Bellamy plays with the strap on his backpack. “I’m going to get some work done but I’ll be in the bedroom if you need something.”

“Okay.” She smiles.

“Okay.” Bellamy nods his head a little then starts towards his room. 

There’s nothing different about it, and he can’t see any signs of Clarke anywhere since all of her clothes have been put away, but it feels different. Bellamy sets his backpack on the floor and pulls out his laptop and his notebooks, going through the homework he has to do before Wednesday, and then he gets to work. He didn’t get as much done during his break as he would have liked to, but at least he has a few hours before everyone else gets home.

He’s only an hour and a half in when the door to his bedroom creaks open, and he turns around to see a disheveled Clarke standing in the doorway. Her hair is messy, and she’s wearing his sweatshirt from earlier, but Bellamy’s chest still feels funny. 

“Have a good nap?”

“Mhm.” Clarke nods her head and yawns. “Could I hangout with you in here? I promise I won’t distract you.”

“Of course.” _I wonder if she’ll realize that she doesn’t have to ask._ The smile she gives him seems almost shy as she makes her way to the bed and slips under the covers. “I actually have something for you.”

“Another present?” Her eyebrows arch up, and Bellamy pulls a leather-bound journal from his backpack. “A book?”

“A journal. For you to write whatever you want in.” Bellamy hands it to her and she takes it, running her hand over the cover. “You said that your head was hurting from trying to remember everything and I figured maybe you’d like something to write it all down in. I mean, most people use the notes app on their phone but I figured you might like something more—”

“Familiar?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I love it, Bellamy.” Clarke smiles as she flips to the first page. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Bellamy smiles, too. “Oh, and here’s a pen.” 

“You know, it’s amazing getting to see all of the advancements that have been made. Could you imagine having to write all of your notes down with a quill and ink? There would be smudges everywhere.” 

“I could imagine.”

The corners of Clarke’s mouth turn up. “I’ll let you get back to work.” She turns back to her journal and Bellamy turns back to his homework. 

That’s how they stay for the next two hours, with Bellamy working at his desk and Clarke writing away in her journal. A few times she asks him for clarification on something, or how a certain word is spelled, but other than that all she does is write. By the time everyone else gets home, Bellamy is wondering if he’s going to have to get her a couple more journals, and when she closes her book, he leans back and stretches.

“Did you get a lot of work done?” Clarke asks and Bellamy shrugs. 

“There’s always a lot, but, yeah, I guess I did.” 

Miller knocks on Bellamy’s door and Bellamy stands. Miller has learned over the years that if Bellamy doesn’t get dragged out of his room then odds are he’ll forget to eat. It’s happened a few times. Once again, Bellamy holds his hand out and helps Clarke out of bed, even though it’s clear she doesn’t need it, but she smiles at him all the same. 

Out in the living room, Jasper is already queuing up _Captain America: The First Avenger_ while everyone else mills about looking for a snack. Once the movie is on, everyone passes around a bowl of popcorn and every now and then, Bellamy watches as Clarke pulls out her phone and types something in the notes app before putting it away and turning her attention back to the movie. He spends a lot of time wondering what it is, but once the movie finishes she pulls out her phone and starts asking questions, and it makes him smile. 

That night, after they’ve all eaten dinner and Clarke decides that she is going to stay home instead of going to class with them tomorrow, Bellamy slides onto the bed beside Clarke and she raises an eyebrow at him.

“Are you scared to leave me alone?”

“No. I just thought we could talk.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever met a man who’s said that.” A small smile spreads across her lips. “Talk about what?”

“Whatever you want.” 

Clarke’s face scrunches together as she thinks. “Oh! Jasper told me about this game where people ask questions to each other.”

“Twenty questions?” Bellamy guesses, and she nods. He bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Okay, you go first.” 

“What’s your full name?” Clarke’s eyes widen and Bellamy laughs lightly.

“Bellamy Augustus Blake. What’s yours?”

“Are you allowed to ask the same question?” Clarke’s eyebrows knit together. “That seems unfair.”

“Usually both people will answer and then a new question gets asked.” Bellamy explains. “At least, that’s how I’ve always played it.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Clarke Elizabeth Griffin.”

“That’s a pretty name.” Bellamy smiles.

“Thank you.” Clarke blushes. “Your turn.” 

“What’s your favorite color?” 

“Blue.” She smiles. “A deep ocean blue, like the waters off our country’s coast. What about you?”

“I like blue, too.” His eyes meet hers. “Your turn.” 

“Why do you like history?”

Bellamy tells her that it’s just something he’s always been interested in, and how his mother used to read him the _Iliad_ when he was younger and then how he would read it to Octavia. Then, it’s like they forget that they’re supposed to be asking each other questions, because Clarke keeps asking what comes to mind, and Bellamy answers. She asks him what it’s like to have a little sister, and he tells her that since he really had to step up and take care of Octavia while their mother worked, their relationship isn’t like most siblings, even though Octavia still drives him up the wall occasionally. That obviously gets Clarke’s attention, and she asks him what his childhood was like. He’s never been one to just tell people what his life was like growing up, but given the weird situation, Bellamy tells her.

He talks about how his father died before he was born, and how his mother insisted on using the life insurance policy for Bellamy’s schooling, which is how he’s able to live a little more comfortably now, but he’s still pretty frugal with his money. Then, he tells her how his mom met someone when he was three, and ended up having Octavia a few months after he turned four and her dad was nowhere to be found. 

Then, he goes on to tell her how things weren’t so bad in the beginning, but by the time he turned six, his mom started having trouble trying to pay bills so she needed to start working longer hours. When he thinks about it, some things didn’t seem so bad when he was younger. He and Octavia went to his mom's work a lot and slept on little pallets on the floor while watching something on a little portable DVD player that their mom found at the thrift store, and when they went home his mom would always tuck him and Octavia into bed and kiss them goodnight. Some nights, even when he could tell that she was tired, she still took time to read them a story. 

When Octavia started school, Bellamy got her up and ready, made breakfast, and lunch, then made sure they both got on the bus in time. By the time he was ten, he was staying home with Octavia while his mom worked nights, but she always made sure that dinner was cooked and that it was something Bellamy would be able to heat up for the two of them. It wasn’t until he was thirteen that he started walking around their neighborhood asking if he could rake the leaves in people’s yards, or mow their lawn, or do _something_ to make a little bit of money that he was finally able to help his mom out a little while also buying some of the things that he wanted. For his birthday that year, his mom surprised him with a phone and told him about the money she had set aside for his college. He tried to tell her that he wasn’t going to go to college and that she should use the money to pay the bills and pay for Octavia to go, but she told him that he would change his mind.

Even when he turned eighteen, he told her that he wasn’t going to go to college since he could get a job with Raven at Sinclair’s, but his mom insisted that he go and, well, she was right. He loves learning, and he is happy that she forced him to go, but his mom won’t accept any money from him, and he’s trying to save as much money as he can so he can pay for Octavia to go to school, but if she keeps up her straight A’s, then she might get a full ride like him. 

Clarke doesn’t interrupt him while he talks, but she reaches out and wraps her hand around his, and that causes him to trip up on some of his words. She doesn’t look like she’s pitying him, which he’s grateful for, and when he finishes talking she asks when she can meet his mom. Bellamy smiles and tells her that he’s having dinner with her and Octavia on Wednesday, but maybe she’ll be able to meet his mom soon. In turn, Clarke tells him more about her childhood.

She talks about how her mother and father claimed they didn’t get along very well at first because they didn’t like the idea of having an arranged marriage when they were supposed to have soulmates, but that quickly went away when they realized that they _were_ soulmates.

“How are you supposed to know though?” Bellamy asks. “It doesn’t seem like there’s anything that would lead them to believe that they’re supposed to be meant for each other.” 

“I never understood that either.” Clarke looks at the edge of the covers and plays with the material. “Like I said the other day, no one really knew much about soulmates. The way my father described it, he said it was like being able to tell what my mother was thinking before she even looked at him. That he could tell there was something wrong before anything was said. At the time, I told him that it sounded like they had just known each other for a while, but he said it happened instantly.”

Bellamy thinks back to the night before when he woke up and felt like there was something wrong with Clarke before he found out she was crying. _Maybe Jake Griffin knew what he was talking about._ “Can you tell what I’m thinking?” 

He means for it to be a joke, and Clarke does smile a little, but she also meets his gaze head-on and Bellamy has to force himself to keep it. “You’re wondering how something like this could even happen.”

“Well, I have been thinking that since I held your hand.” 

Clarke laughs a little. “I still guessed right though.” She raises her eyebrows, and Bellamy’s heart rate picks up. “Can you tell what I’m thinking?” 

Bellamy looks at her, trying to see if he can feel anything like the night before. He looks at her face, then into her eyes, wondering if that will help him at all, but he doesn’t feel anything near what he felt when he thought something was wrong. Even though it takes him longer to respond than it had Clarke, when he comes to terms with the fact that he’s pretty sure he can’t figure it out, he says, “You’re wondering how to feel about this. How you should feel about me even though it’s only been three days.” 

He’s not entirely sure what possessed him to say that, but Clarke’s answering smile is enough to tell him he’s right. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” 

“Then, it looks like I was right, too.” Bellamy smiles a little, and Clarke’s blue eyes stare into him. 

He isn’t sure how long they keep asking each other questions, but, eventually, Clarke closes her eyes and doesn’t open them again, and Bellamy waits a bit after her breathing evens out to move into the living room. Since Clarke isn’t going to class with him tomorrow, he doesn’t want to wake her up with his alarm, and he got lucky waking up before it this morning. If there’s one thing he hates, it’s waking up early when he doesn’t have to, so he doesn’t want her to have to do that either.

As he’s laying on the couch, so many questions keep running through his mind. _She has clothes, and a phone, and a toothbrush...but what else are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can just get her a birth certificate._ Sighing, Bellamy runs a hand over his face then rolls onto his stomach, willing his thoughts to calm down. _What the hell am I supposed to do? We’ve only known each other for three days._ He’s not sure when, but eventually he falls asleep, and he wonders if maybe things aren’t going to be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think he’ll figure it out? :)
> 
> Okay, everybody, so I have a lot going on with college right now and with only two weeks left before finals I'm struggling to try and get everything done. I really hate to say this, but I don't think I'll be updating next week. I'm about halfway done with chapter 8, though, and I'm hoping that I'll be back the week after next. I've been spending a lot of my time trying to write and not doing what I need to be doing to make sure I get through this semester so taking a break seems like what might be best for me. I've even taken off work for the next week, too. But, with all that being said, if I do end up finishing chapter 8, then I'll take a minute to post it, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do. I really appreciate all of the love all of you have shown this fic, and if you stick with me, then I promise I'll be back soon :)
> 
> Even if I don't update, if you ever need someone to talk to or a pick me up then you can always reach out to me on tumblr or twitter and I'll be there to talk to you! <3
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back :)
> 
> I have to say, I really missed this story!

When Bellamy wakes up, he does his best to not disturb Clarke as he gets ready, and she’s still sound asleep by the time he walks out of his room. Since he only has two classes today, and they’re back to back, he’ll be home in about three and a half hours, and he wonders if everyone would want to go sight-seeing or something around town, because he wants to help Clarke learn more about the place where she’s been standing for the past thirty years.

He’s fully awake by the time he gets into his first class, even though everyone else looks like they’re falling asleep in their seats, and he’s about to pull out his notebook when someone drops down beside him. “I really fuckin’ regret taking this damn class.”

Bellamy snorts. “It’s an intro art history class.”

“But it’s too damn early.” Roan yawns dramatically. “I don’t know how you’re able to function right now.”

“Years of practice,” Bellamy mutters. He takes out his notebook and a pen, then leans back in his seat, looking at the door to the room when the professor walks in.

“You’re coming to the tailgate this weekend, right?” 

“I didn’t know there was a tailgate.”

“You really don’t check the group chat, do you?”

Bellamy shrugs. “It’s not useful half the time.”

This time, Roan snorts and shakes his head. “Figured.”

The teacher clears her throat and the class falls silent. Even though Bellamy does his best to try and pay attention, the fact that he’s supposed to go tailgating, since it’s pretty much an unspoken frat rule, and that he has Clarke to think about really disrupts his ability to process what’s being said. Somehow, he manages to get most of the notes down, and by the time they’re walking out of the classroom, Bellamy is expecting Roan to head in his own direction, but he stays next to Bellamy’s side.

“Are you going to bring the blonde to the tailgate?”

“Are you calling Harper “The Blonde” now?” Bellamy casts a sidelong glance at Roan, and the other guy smirks.

“I know who Harper is. I was talking about the girl I saw you get in your truck with.”

 _Shit_. “No.”

“Why not?” Roan arches one of his eyebrows and Bellamy shrugs.

“Tailgating isn’t really her thing. Besides, she’s too young for you.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Got somethin’ to say, Azgeda?” Bellamy asks, and Roan chuckles.

“I ain’t got anything. I’ll see you at the tailgate Saturday.”

Bellamy rolls his eyes, but they still do their old handshake and Bellamy picks up the pace towards his next class. If Roan saw him and Clarke getting into his truck yesterday, then he wonders how many other people noticed him with her. It’s not like they can’t just go with the story that they came up with to explain who she is, but he wasn’t really wanting to introduce her to everyone at his fraternity. 

He met Roan his senior year of high school when they got into a fight outside a bowling alley, and they’ve been friends ever since even though Roan is two years older than him. Roan didn’t push anyone to join a frat once they got to college, but, eventually, Murphy pulled them all into it. Now, they’re all in Roan’s frat, and Bellamy should have known that there wasn’t going to be a way he could keep them from finding out about Clarke. But he still could’ve hoped.

Halfway into his second class, he gets a text message. His heart flips at the idea of it being Clarke, but when he looks it’s from Octavia and she’s asking why Clarke hasn’t texted her yet. Bellamy tries to hide his snort.

_Because she’s still asleep and you shouldn’t even be texting while you’re at school_

He locks his phone and drops it into his lap, but Octavia answers almost immediately.

 _I thought she went to class with u? And you’re texting while ur at school_

Bellamy sighs.

_That’s because I can. Now quit texting and I’ll make sure Clarke answers you when she wakes up_

Thankfully, Octavia doesn’t text him again, and he’s able to get through class with less distraction than his first one. Once he’s out of class and heading to his car, his mom texts him and says that she’s going to make shrimp fettuccine for dinner tomorrow and he tells her that he can’t wait. Even now, Octavia will show up most nights for dinner at his place but their mom tries her best to still cook a family meal whenever she’s off and has the energy. Despite Bellamy and Octavia’s insistence that they can help, she always waves them off and they usually end up building a fort or something. Like when they were little.

Thinking about it, Bellamy swings into the drive thru at the coffee shop and orders a coffee for Clarke, then realizes that it might seem questionable if he only brings her a coffee, which leads him to ordering a drink for everyone before he heads back to the house. No one is in the living room or the kitchen when he walks in, since most of his friends are usually still in bed anyway, so he leaves the coffees on the kitchen counter and sends a text in their group and then makes his way towards his room. 

Bellamy knocks, still feeling weird about the fact that he thinks he has to since Clarke is staying in his room, and she calls him in. Opening the door, he notices that the lamp beside the bed is on and she’s sitting with her journal propped up on her knees. When Clarke looks at him, she grins, and Bellamy can feel himself do the same. 

“How was class?” She asks, and Bellamy shrugs as he hands her the coffee.

“Same thing as yesterday, except slightly longer.” He sets his backpack down on the floor next to his desk and sits in the chair. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. The medicine you gave me yesterday helped with my headache.” Clarke says as she takes a sip of her coffee. 

“That’s good.” Bellamy nods his head a little as he looks at her, and her eyes don't leave his. “Um, I was wondering if you would want to go do some more exploring today. Maybe go to the library or the park or something.”

“Do you have work to do?” 

“Nothing that can’t wait.” He shrugs. 

“I’d like that.” Clarke smiles a little and Bellamy curses himself for getting excited about it. 

“Good. I’ll let you get ready and everyone else should be getting up soon, too.” 

Clarke nods her head and Bellamy finds himself doing the same as he stands from the chair and heads into the living room. Miller is already settled into the couch with his coffee by the time Bellamy catches sight of him, and Miller raises one of his eyebrows.

“What?”

“Are you going to bring her to the tailgate Saturday?”

Bellamy shrugs. “I’m not going. I don’t really see a need to.”

“You have to go!” Jasper pops up behind Bellamy and he turns to look at him. “If you don’t go to the tailgate then you can’t go to the party afterwards.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go to the party.” 

“Great. You’re ditching us for a girl.” Murphy pushes past him and rolls his eyes. “It’s been, what? Three days?”

“Four. And I’m not _ditching_ you, I just don’t think Clarke should be left by herself.”

“Why would I be left by myself?” Clarke’s voice catches Bellamy’s attention and he turns to look at her. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a bun and the shirt she’s wearing is slipping off one of her shoulders, but she looks like a normal college student. _She really is beautiful._

“Uh,” Bellamy reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “The guys and I are in a fraternity, and there’s going to be a tailgate and a party Saturday. We’re supposed to go but I don’t feel comfortable just leaving you here by yourself.”

“I could have another sleepover with Raven, Harper, and Octavia.” Clarke shrugs. “I don’t want to keep you from your obligations.” 

“You’d really be okay with it?” Bellamy crosses his arms over his chest and looks at her. 

He can probably back out of the whole fraternity pledge thing if he really wants to, even if everyone else will give him shit for it, but he doesn’t know if he does. He complains about it, sure, but the parties are pretty fun, and the frat could help him land some internships just from knowing the right people. 

“Yeah, Bell, I’ll be fine.” Clarke smiles and takes a sip of her coffee. “So, you said something about a park?” She raises her eyebrows and Bellamy can feel a smile tug its way onto his face. 

“Yeah. Lets go to the park.” 

In the end, Bellamy and Clarke are the only ones to take his truck since everyone else is going to have to leave from the park to go to class, but Bellamy can’t say he minds. Much like the ride to the mall, and to campus, Clarke looks around at everything and continues to ask questions. “Why is that guy standing on top of a—what is that called again? That truck?” And Bellamy reminds her that it’s an eighteen-wheeler and that the guy is a lawyer who helps people get money. “Why did they build that out of glass?” He shrugs and tells her that maybe they thought it would look pretty. 

“I’ve been using my phone to try and ‘get with the times’ as one article put it. There are a lot of videos.” Clarke says as they pass under the interstate. 

“Just be careful about what you’re looking for.” Bellamy glances at her. “You might stumble onto something you don’t want to see.”

“Like what?” He can see Clarke turn towards him, but he keeps his eyes on the road.

“Uh, very risqué stuff that you probably wouldn’t be comfortable with. Not to mention, there’s a lot of fucked up stuff on the internet other than that.” 

“Well, I haven’t seen anything like that. Octavia keeps sending me cute puppy videos and recommending Crash Course videos on YouTube to try and get me up to speed with everything I’ve missed.” 

The corners of Bellamy’s lips turn up. “Yeah, that sounds like O.” 

“Do you think I would be able to come to class with you again soon?” Clarke asks as Bellamy comes to a stop at a red light, and he looks at her.

“I’m not sure.” He thinks about Roan and him asking about Clarke, and doesn’t really want to run the risk of him talking to her. He knows how Roan can be. Clarke’s face immediately falls. _Fuck._ “Maybe not to my two other classes, but I’m sure Harper and Raven would like to bring you to their classes.”

Clarke gives him a soft smile then turns to look out the window again. He knows he can’t keep her locked in the house, and if she’s going to be around for a while, then she’s going to have to meet people eventually, but those thoughts disturb him. _She doesn’t have a birth certificate, or any concept of what’s happened in the world since 1807, and she’s insanely attractive which will only cause people to be more interested in her._ Bellamy takes a deep breath and readjusts his grip on the steering wheel. _We have time. We’re still getting used to each other._

“Hello?” Bellamy glances over at Clarke, wondering if she was trying to talk to him and he was spacing out, but he sees her phone pressed against her ear. “Yeah, I’m with him. Why?” Clarke looks at him, and he glances between her and the road. “Octavia says you didn’t keep your promise so she wants ice cream tomorrow when you come over as repayment.”

Bellamy snorts. “Tell Octavia that she’s not supposed to be on her phone during school and if she doesn’t put it up then I’m telling mom.”

“She says if you do that then she’ll tell her that you woke up the statue.”

“Not funny, Octavia!”

Clarke giggles into the phone, and the sound of it makes Bellamy’s heart rate pick up. It’s just her laughing, which he’s heard a lot in the past couple of days, but the fact that she’s giggling like a school girl with his little sister makes him wonder if they’re talking about him.

“Um, I’m just going to stay home but maybe another time,” Clarke says as Bellamy pulls down the road that leads to the park. “Yeah, I will. Bye.”

He takes a right into the parking lot. “Mind if I ask what she said?”

“She asked if I was coming to the dinner tomorrow. But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think either of us are ready for me to meet your mom.” 

When Bellamy pulls into an empty parking spot, he parks and looks at her. She’s playing with her leggings and biting at the straw in her coffee. He can tell she’s nervous about it, well, probably _everything_ , but it’s not like he’s going to force her to do something she’s not ready to do. He reaches over the console and grabs her hand, flipping it over and covering it with his. When she looks at him, her eyes are wide but she quits biting on the end of her straw.

“We’ll take it slow. Okay?”

In response, she smiles and Bellamy’s chest does really funny things. “Okay.”

They join their friends as they head towards an empty patch of grass by one of the lakes, and Miller tosses the football he keeps in his car over to Jasper. Bellamy was always more into soccer when he was growing up, but that didn’t stop him from joining the football team with Murphy and Miller. A hand wraps around his arm, and when he looks, Clarke’s eyebrows are knitted together as she looks at the ball being thrown back and forth.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a football, but in England, their football is what we call soccer.”

“What’s soccer?”

“So, soccer here is where you have a black and white ball and you kick it around a field to try and make it into the other team’s goal. But, they call soccer, football in England and we have our version of football which is where we throw that,” he points towards the football, “around trying to make touchdowns.”

Clarke tilts her head as she looks up at him. “Would it not make more sense to call your soccer football since you use your feet? Why would you call this football when you use your hands?”

Bellamy shrugs, trying to keep his smile from spreading too wide. “You got me there. I have no idea.”

“Are you two playing or what?” Murphy calls, and Bellamy looks from his friends to Clarke.

“Want to learn how to play?”

“Will you be the one to show me?” There’s a look in her eye that he can’t place as she asks that question, but the smile on her face makes him wonder if it’s what he thinks it is.

“Yeah,” he grins, “I’ll show you.”

After Clarke watches all of them toss the ball around for a minute, Bellamy catches it then walks over to Clarke, placing her fingers where they need to go and helping her get her stance right. Unlike most of the girls he grew up around, Clarke actually seems interested in learning how to play. Like with everything else, she asks him questions and does as he says when it finally comes time for her to throw it. When it successfully sails across the sky and lands in Monty’s arms, she turns around and smiles triumphantly at Bellamy, and he feels like his voice has been lodged in his throat.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

“Yeah, me, too.” He watches her as she runs to catch Miller’s throw, and even though it nearly hits her in the face, she still gets excited when she realizes she’s caught it. 

It’s fun just watching her play, and that’s what terrifies him.

~

When it comes time for Bellamy to get ready to head over to his mom’s house, he can’t bring himself to actually move towards the door. Clarke is curled up on his bed writing in her journal when he emerges from the bathroom, and she looks up and smiles at him. She’s been smiling at him a lot, and sometimes he finds himself wishing she wouldn’t.

“You look nice.” Her eyes rake over him, much like the first time he told her he was her soulmate and asked if she was disappointed. _I’m certainly not_.

“Thank you.” Bellamy’s voice comes out a little rough and he coughs to get rid of it. “I know you’re not going to be here by yourself, but you have my number in case you need to get a hold of me, and you have Octavia’s, but our mom has a “no phones at the dinner table” rule so I may not be able to talk as much. And I’m not sure what the other’s are going to do for dinner but—”

“Bellamy,” Clarke closes her journal and crawls towards the edge of the bed, crossing her legs as she looks up at him, “I’ll be _fine_. I’m not going to starve or get sick in the time it takes you to go to your mother’s and come back home.”

He knows that, but he doesn’t exactly want to tell her that he doesn’t want to leave her. It’s been five days, he shouldn’t be so attached to her. But he is, and he can’t do anything about it.

“Yeah, I know. Come on,” he holds his hand out and Clarke takes it as he helps her off the bed, “I think Jasper wants to continue the Marvel movie marathon.”

“See? I’ll be fine.”

Suddenly, Bellamy has the strong urge to lean over and kiss the top of her head, but he stops himself and settles on just squeezing her hand. Everyone else is already piled around on the floor and the furniture, and Bellamy lets go of Clarke’s hand as she makes her way to the couch and settles between Monty and Jasper. Monty must have seen Bellamy holding Clarke’s hand because he raises his eyebrows at him, smiling a bit, and Bellamy just waves at everyone before heading towards the door.

“Don’t burn down the house while I’m gone!”

“Tell that to the Victorian girl!” Murphy calls, and Bellamy flips him off over his shoulder.

 _She’ll be fine. She doesn’t need you hovering over her all the time. She’ll be fine._ Bellamy repeats those three phrases over and over in his head as he starts his truck and pulls out of the driveway. He hasn’t been able to sit down and have dinner with his mom in about a month, so he’s looking forward to it. He knows she’s been working a lot more recently, so it will be nice to just sit down and talk. 

Without putting much thought into it, Bellamy takes a left and stops at the store and jogs in to buy a bouquet of flowers and then before he can forget he grabs Octavia a pint of ice cream. He knows she was joking about telling their mom about Clarke, but just to be on the safe side he should get it for her anyway. It doesn’t take long for him to be back in his truck and heading towards her house, and within five minutes he’s standing on the front porch, pulling the house key out of his pocket.

As soon as the door opens, the smell of the food cooking hits him and Bellamy’s mouth begins to water. He didn’t eat lunch for this exact reason. Octavia slides from the kitchen and into the dining room with her socks, which causes their mom to remind her that if Octavia breaks the plates she’s supposed to be setting then she won’t get an allowance for the next month.

Bellamy smiles as he makes his way into the house, and Octaiva catches sight of him first and her eyes light up when he holds up the pint of ice cream.

“Mom, Bell’s here!” She sprints towards him and grabs the ice cream from his hand, smirking as she heads into the kitchen.

“There you are!” Their mom comes around the corner and raises an eyebrow at the ice cream in her daughter’s hands.

“What’s the reason for the ice cream?”

“I guess he just wanted to be nice.” Octavia smiles sweetly which only leads their mother to raise her eyebrow at the two of them, but then Bellamy pulls the bouquet of flowers out from behind his back and his mom smiles even more. 

“You didn’t have to get me flowers. It’s not my birthday. Or mother’s day.”

“I know, but you’ve been working hard.”

“Well, thank you.” Aurora gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before guiding him towards the kitchen. “Keep an eye on the food and I’ll put these in some water.”

Bellamy takes the spoon that his mom set down beside the pot and stirs the noodles, his stomach grumbling. He doesn’t remember the last time his mom made shrimp fettucine. He’s tried making it himself, but it never comes out quite right because his mom doesn’t use actual measurements for anything. _Oh, a pinch of this and a little bit of that_ , she would say, and when Bellamy asked how much a little was she would say, _I don't know, maybe half? I just eyeball it_. It never helped.

Within the next ten minutes, the plates are covered and some of the food is split between the three of them. There’s a lot left over, and Bellamy wonders how much his mom will let him take home. Once they’re all seated around the table, Bellamy can’t help himself when he digs in, and his mom laughs.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.” 

“He’s always hungry,” Octavia chimes in, and Bellamy looks at her.

“Jasper is always hungry, I just didn't eat lunch.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“So, Bellamy, how were your classes today?” 

Over the dinner, the three of them talk and laugh like he’s there every night, and Octavia even fills him in on some of the drama that’s been happening at school. Granted, he doesn’t follow along with most of it since he can’t keep everyone’s name straight, but he enjoys it nonetheless. Except, there’s dread growing in the pit of his stomach and he can’t seem to figure out why. He can also feel his pocket vibrating every now and then, but it’s when it starts ringing that his heart begins to beat faster.

He grabs his phone through his pocket and silences the vibrating, and thankfully his mom doesn’t notice when she goes into the kitchen to get dessert, but Bellamy doesn’t have much time to wonder what’s happening when Octavia’s phone begins ringing. Octavia’s eyes widen when she glances at the phone before she answers the call.

“Hello?” Bellamy can’t hear what’s being said on the other end, but when his sister turns to him, his nerves skyrocket. “It’s Miller.”

Octavia hands the phone off to Bellamy and he jumps out of his chair, nearly running into his mom as she makes her way back to the table, and then he makes his way outside.

“What’s wrong?”

“The breaker got tripped and the lights went out but Clarke is freaking out. I think she's having an anxiety attack.”

“What?” It feels like the ground shifts beneath him and Bellamy leans back against the wall of the house. “Where is she?”

“She was in the bathroom and Murphy heard her. We got the door open but we can’t get her to calm down, the rest are with her now.”

“Put me on speaker and put me in a place she can hear me.”

Bellamy can hear the sound of Clarke’s shallow breaths and Murphy trying to talk to her, then there’s some other noise and Bellamy takes a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

“Okay, you’re on speaker and she can hear you,” Miller calls, and Bellamy straightens.

“Hey, Clarke,” he softens his voice, hoping she can hear him. “You’re going to be okay, but I need you to breathe for me. Okay?”

“Bell-” Her voice comes out strained and broken and his heart clenches.

“I’m here, princess, breathe with me. Listen.” He takes in a deep breath, making sure there’s a noise, then lets it out slowly. “I want you to do it with me, okay? Let’s try it again.” 

He repeats the process a couple of times and after about the fifth time he can hear her breathing beginning to return to normal, but not quite. He can hear the shakiness in her voice whenever she goes to say something, and he listens as she tries to take a couple more deep breaths.

“Bellamy,” her voice breaks, and Bellamy slides down the side of the house.

“I’m here, Clarke.”

“I couldn’t move,” she whispers. “The darkness, it happened so fast and I could _feel it_. There was pressure _everywhere_ and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t _breathe_.” A sob sounds over the speaker and Bellamy can feel a lump form in his throat. “I thought—I thought that I—” 

Her breathing starts becoming shallow again and Bellamy leans his head against the wall, looking up to the sky. He wishes he could be home with her, but he realizes that he’ll probably have to go back inside and tell his mom what’s going on. _If Octavia hasn’t already_.

“Clarke, breathe with me again.” He goes through the breathing exercises again and when Clarke’s breathing evens out to the point where he can’t hear it anymore, he lets out a soft exhale. 

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he murmurs, and he can hear Clarke sniffle on the other end. 

“Okay.” There’s the sound of feet shuffling and Clarke takes another deep breath. “I’m sorry for ruining your dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin my dinner, I promise. Are you okay?” 

“Yes, I think so. I don’t know why I reacted the way I did. We didn’t have electricity then so I don’t understand why it going out bothered me.”

“You’ve only been here for five days, so you’re still getting used to things.” Bellamy can hear his mom and sister shuffling around in the house so he stands. He doesn’t want to quit talking to her, but he also knows he can’t stay outside forever. “I have to go, but I’ll be home soon, okay? An hour tops. I promise.” 

“Okay.” Her voice is soft. “Do you—do you think you could tell me a story tonight?” 

“Yeah.” A small smile begins to tug at the corners of Bellamy’s lips, and his heart beats faster, but for a different reason this time. “I’ll see you when I get back.” 

“Okay. Goodbye, Bellamy.”

“Bye, Princess.”

Bellamy takes a deep breath before standing and heading back inside. If Octavia hasn’t already told his mom what’s going on then he’s going to have to because there’s a good chance she won’t let him leave until he does. 

When he walks back into the dining room, his mom and Octavia are still seated at the table and there’s hot bread pudding sitting in the center of it. Out of all of the deserts his mom makes, her bread pudding has always been his favorite. As he reaches his seat, his mom leans onto the table and looks up at him.

“Now, want to explain what’s going on?” Bellamy glances at Octavia, but then “don’t look at your sister, I’m talking to you.” 

Bellamy gulps and looks back at his mom, handing the phone back to Octavia. “See, usually Octavia will give in whenever I need to know something, but she’s not budging. Now, take a seat and tell me what’s happening or you’re not leaving this table and I’m going to eat this by myself.” 

“Mom—” he groans, but she doesn’t budge.

“Bellamy Blake, sit down.” 

Bellamy does as he’s told and takes a seat, folding his hands in his lap. Aurora begins to cut a piece of the bread pudding and puts it on a plate.

“Talk, and you can have a bite.” 

Bellamy and Octavia look at each other. They both knew that they would have to tell their mom at some point, and her bribing them with bread pudding isn’t as bad as it could be. Bellamy runs his hand through his hair, his leg jerking under the table. Then, taking one more deep, steadying breath, he looks his mother in the eye.

“I woke up the statue in the middle of town square.”

~

Whenever Bellamy gets back home, it’s a little later than he intended, but he can’t blame his mother for wanting to know everything. How did it happen? What were you doing there? What does she look like? At that, Bellamy pulled out his phone and showed her the picture that Clarke took with him. _Her first time taking a selfie_ , he told her, fighting back his smile. Then when his mom asked where she was sleeping, he stumbled a little as he told her that he let Clarke take his room and that he’s sleeping on the couch. Though, he left out the fact that he’s slept in bed with her the past two nights. And then Aurora asked when she’d get to meet her and Bellamy froze. His mom understood when he told her that he’d need to talk to Clarke, since she’s still getting used to everything, but he wouldn’t put it past his mom to just _show up_ one night for dinner.

As Bellamy walks into the living room, Clarke seems to be asleep on the couch and everyone else is sprawled out around her. Monty and Jasper are sitting on the floor near each end of the couch, Miller is draped across the armchair, and the coffee table has been moved so Murphy can lay in front of the T.V.. They all turn to look at him when he comes in, and Bellamy waves them towards their bedrooms. Everyone begins to get up slowly, and Bellamy kneels down and clasps Jasper on the shoulder to wake him up. _They all stayed with her_.

He makes his way to the couch, and bends down as he picks Clarke up. Her eyes open a bit, and a soft smile makes its way onto her face.

“Bellamy.”

“I got you.” 

Clarke wraps her arms around his neck and he slides one arm under her legs as he turns around to head to his bedroom. He would be lying if he said he didn’t love the way Clarke curls into him, and that alone is enough to have him press a kiss to her forehead before he can stop himself. 

He toes the door to the room open and shuts it the same way before walking towards his bed. Clarke slides under the blankets willingly and Bellamy follows her, even though he knows he’ll have to get up later to get ready for bed and change into pajamas. Once he’s comfortable and settles down, Clarke moves towards him and her eyes open, still bright blue in the dim light that’s surrounding them.

“I take it your mother knows about me now?” She whispers, and Bellamy nods his head.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. You don’t have to meet her until you feel like you’re ready.”

“I should apologize for taking you away from your family time.”

“No, you shouldn’t.” Bellamy slides down in the bed to where he’s eye level with her, then reaches out and runs his hand across her arm. “I was the one who got up, you didn’t do anything.”

Clarke’s lips press into a thin line for a moment before she nods her head, and she moves closer to him. “I thought I was becoming a statue again.”

Her voice breaks, and Bellamy moves his hand from her arm to wrap around her, pulling her into his chest. “I’m not going to let anything like that happen to you again,” he whispers into her hair. “I promise.”

He can hear Clarke sniffle, and her hand comes up to fist in his shirt as she nuzzles into his neck. “I know.”

They lay like that for a moment, and Bellamy runs his fingers through her hair, hoping that she truly does know that he won’t let anyone or anything hurt her. She’s his soulmate, she’s meant to be here with him, and, at this point, he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Do you still want me to tell you a story?”

“Yes, please.” Clarke nods against him, and Bellamy smiles a little.

“Okay, so, once upon a time there was a little boy who found a well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had most of this chapter written, but I wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to go about finished it. I figured it out :) 
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a huge shoutout to Lea for telling me about the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. I didn't even know it existed when I began this story, but I'm glad I get to incorporate it now❤️

When Bellamy’s alarm goes off, he starts awake, only realizing too late that Clarke had been holding onto him in her sleep. She opens her eyes and Bellamy feels like he can’t move. Clarke smiles at him a little, and her eyes begin to droop again.

“I’m sorry for waking you, but I need to get ready for class.”

“Okay.” There’s a slight pout on her lips as she says it, and Bellamy has to admit, he doesn’t want to leave her. But he knows he can’t bring her to class with him because his first one has Roan in it. 

“Hey,” he nudges her a little and she opens her eyes again, “I’ll be back in three hours, and then we can do something.” 

“Really?” Her eyes spark. 

“Yeah,” he smiles. “But get some more sleep, and I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.” Even when Clarke closes her eyes the smile doesn’t leave her face, and Bellamy’s heart skips a beat as he heads into the bathroom. 

An hour and a half later, Bellamy is pulling into a parking spot, and looks at his empty passenger seat. He wishes he could have brought Clarke with him, but walking her into his art history class would be the start of something he doesn’t think either of them want. Sighing, he picks up his backpack then gets out, starting the ten minute walk to the room. 

When he finally gets there, the teacher is already standing at the podium talking to someone, and Bellamy looks at what’s already being projected on the screen. His heart stops. There, in all her marble glory, is Clarke, and Bellamy’s mouth goes dry.  _ What’s this about? _

He makes his way to his seat and takes out his things, but he can’t seem to keep his bouncing leg under control or stop the fact that he keeps biting the inside of his cheek. Of course, this is art history and they’re shown a lot of different sculptures but they’re from centuries ago by famous artists, not an alchemist who was paid to stop a girl from loving who she wanted to love. 

As usual, Roan plops into the seat beside him, but he doesn’t groan whenever he does. When Bellamy glances at him, he’s staring at the screen with as much curiosity as Bellamy expects he was. 

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t said anything.” 

Bellamy looks back at the teacher and the other person, then looks at his phone. It’s 7:30, so they should be starting any second. As he looks at the screen, he thinks about the picture on his phone that was taken when he held Clarke’s hand, and he wipes his hands on his pants.  _ You don’t even know what’s happening. It makes sense that they’d talk about her, she’s a work of art.  _

“Alright, class,” their professor holds up his hands and everyone quiets down. “In light of recent events, my good friend Mrs. Sydney has offered to talk to all of you about a certain story from Ancient Greece that you may or may not know.” The professor turns and smiles at the woman beside him, “Mrs. Sydney, the class is yours.”

“Thank you.” The woman smiles and steps forward, her blonde hair bouncing as she does, and she looks out at the students. “Good morning everyone, I know it’s early in the morning, but I hope you won’t mind me taking a few minutes to talk about something I think you all will enjoy.” 

Diana Sydney turns around and motions towards the picture on the screen. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I have a picture of our town’s statue up here, and it’s because she’s relevant to the myth I’m about to tell you. How many of you like mythology?”

A few students in the class raise their hands, but Bellamy keeps his arms folded. He loves mythology, but he’s not going to broadcast it. He has the living, breathing version of the statue at his house. 

“I do, too,” Mrs. Sydney smiles. “I teach Classical Studies and I offer a mythology class every fall, followed by both Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization classes in the spring. I’m sure all of you know the story of our statue, and even if you are not from our city and had not heard it before, I’m sure you’ve learned all about it since Saturday. But, what many don’t know is that there is a myth that deals with a statue coming to life.”

_ What? _

“Does anyone know this story?” The woman’s eyes scan the class, but no one raises their hands. “No? Well, I suppose it’s popularity might be fading.” She changes the slide, and the picture of Clarke disappears, being replaced by a picture of a man sculpting a lady.

“There was once a king and sculptor named Cyprus, but in Ovid’s poem  _ Metamorphoses _ , he was called Pygmalion. The story is that Pygmalion became disgusted with the prostitutes of his city, vowing to never touch them or waste his money on them again, and he began to sculpt a statue of a lady.” The slide changes, and it’s of the man around a statue again. “He crafted her out of ivory, seemingly perfecting all of the things he believed wrong with the women around him. Then, he fell in love with her. She was his idea of a perfect woman. He dressed her in beautiful fabrics, gave her beautiful gifts, gave her jewelry, kissed her, talked to her...I think it’s safe to say he was a little obsessed.”

That gathers a few laughs from around the class, but Bellamy can’t seem to do anything other than just look at the screen.

“Now, on Aphrodite’s festival day in Cyprus, Pygmalion went to her and sacrificed a bull. And, Aphrodite, having seen the passion between the sculptor and his creation, took pity on him. When Pygmalion returned to his shop, he noticed that his statue was not the pure ivory it had been when he left, and when he touched her she was not cold. He kissed her, and her lips were soft, her skin warm”

The slide changes again to a man kissing a statue and while the top part of her is clearly human, her legs are still white stone. For the second time, Bellamy’s mind drifts to the picture tucked away in his phone, and how similar the statue on the screen looks to the picture of Clarke. 

“Her name was Galatea, and she and Pygmalion were then married, though Pygmalion never forgot to thank Aphrodite for the gift she had given him. Since there are many different versions of this story, it’s unclear whether they had a daughter, or a son, or a son and then a daughter, but once you get through all of the sexism and just overall creepiness of this man becoming attracted to a statue, it’s a nice love story.

“With our own statue, the story was that she would wake whenever her soulmate held her hand. Of course, that’s believing that something like that could actually happen, but seeing as she is not in the square anymore and no one knows where she is, I would say it’s not far off.” Mrs. Sydney smiles and the slideshow ends, and Bellamy feels like he can breathe a little easier. “If any of you are curious about more myths and stories, then I believe you would enjoy my class next fall, or even my other classes in the spring. Mr. Kane.” She inclines her head a little and the professor smiles. 

“Thank you for coming to talk, Diana, I’ll make sure to remind them about your classes towards the end of the semester.”

“Much appreciated.” Mrs. Sydney takes her flashdrive out of the computer and then she gathers her things. “Have a good class everyone!”

Once the door closes behind her, everyone begins opening their things to get ready for class, and Bellamy has to remind himself that he needs to at least open his notebook so Roan doesn’t start questioning him. But, even then, Bellamy can’t seem to stop thinking about Clarke, or the story, or the fact that he had never heard the story. All through class, his mind begins to wander back to the princess he left sleeping in his bed.

~

By the time Bellamy gets home, he feels more tired than he usually does when he gets home from his two classes, and his feet shuffle on the hardwood floor as he moves towards the kitchen. He puts his backpack on one of the barstools and the bag from the bookstore on the counter as he grabs a bottle of water. He never knew that there was a story about a girl who was once a statue and came to life because she was blessed by Aphrodite, but the fact that a man crafted her to try and appease himself makes Bellamy feel uneasy. 

He grabs a second bottle of water then grabs the bags and makes his way towards his room. Since his friends don’t have classes until later, none of them are actually out of their rooms yet, but he hopes that Clarke will want to sleep for a little bit longer. He could use some sleep himself. When he opens the door to his room, all of the lights are still off, but he can see Clarke sleeping on her side and the fact that she’s huddled under the covers. He smiles as he sets his things down then crawls into bed next to her.

She moves and rolls over, and Bellamy stills, his hand still holding up the blanket. When she calms down, he slides under it completely and rolls onto his stomach. Clarke is facing him now, and Bellamy smiles a little at the fact that she snores, but before he can think of anything else, sleep pulls him away.

He’s not sure how long he’s out, but when he wakes up, the sun is shining through the windows and Clarke isn’t in bed with him anymore, but he notices that she’s sitting in his desk chair with her sketchbook propped up in her lap. She’s not looking at him, so Bellamy gets a moment to just watch her as she works, noticing that there’s a slight crease between her eyebrows and he’s pretty sure her tongue is sticking out a little.

When she looks at him, her eyes go wide when she notices that he’s watching her, and her cheeks turn a bright red. Bellamy smiles before he yawns and stretches, then he motions towards the book in her hands.

“Having fun?”

“Possibly.” She’s still blushing as she closes the book and sets it on his desk, placing the pencil she was using on top of it. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t.” Bellamy yawns one more time then reaches for his phone. It’s almost noon so he hadn’t even been sleeping for an hour. There’s a text in the family group chat saying that someone needs to go grocery shopping and apparently since Bellamy will be the only one home, he’s been the one chosen to go. Usually a couple of them would go together, but since he has Clarke… “How long have you been awake?”

“I’m not sure, maybe thirty minutes?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together as she picks up her phone from the desk and looks at it. “Yes, about thirty minutes.”

“I know I said that we could go do something when I got back but I also need to go grocery shopping with everyone else is in class—”

“Oh, can I come?” Clarke sits up straighter and smiles. She actually looks excited to go grocery shopping, and the sight makes Bellamy’s heart flip.

“Yeah, you can come with me,” Bellamy yawns again and sits up, smiling at her. “But I’m still going to keep my promise about us going and doing something so, would you want to go see a movie?”

“Like on the T.V.?” Clarke asks, tilting her head to the side.

“No,” Bellamy’s smile widens, “there are places called movie theaters and you can go see movies there before you can watch them on T.V.. They have huge screens, and you can buy popcorn and candy and drinks and stuff. People usually—” 

_ People usually go there on dates _ .

“People usually enjoy going.”

He hadn’t been thinking about that when he brought it up, but it’s not like Clarke knows that people usually go on dates there. He just thought she’d enjoy it.

Clarke’s mouth makes a little  _ o _ as she grins. “I’d love to go. What’s playing?”

“Let’s watch the trailers.”

Clarke crawls onto the bed next to him as he pulls up the website for their local movie theater. He doesn’t know how she would react to a movie that’s overly violent, or has a lot of loud sound effects, and then there’s horror movies...They go through the Trailers for  _ Stuber, The Crawl, The Lion King, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,  _ and  _ Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark _ , and Bellamy watches Clarke’s reaction for all of them. 

And then, “Can we watch the scary stories one?”

Bellamy raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to watch that one?”

“I think it would be interesting. My mother always said that I would have nightmares if I was told ghost stories, but the ones we had were not like this. I read  _ The Castle of Otranto _ when my teacher brought it to me one day, but it was a tragedy.” Her eyebrows furrow together. “But, I don’t think this movie would be such a tragedy. Do you want to watch it?”

“Yeah, let’s watch it.”

“Okay.” 

Clarke smiles from the time Bellamy walks out of the room so she can get dressed until they get into his truck, and it makes Bellamy feel funny. As he pulls out onto the road he thinks about the story the teacher told him today in class, and he has a fleeting thought on if he should tell Clarke about it to see what she thinks.

In their situation, she wasn’t the product of his idea of what a perfect woman is, he’s not even sure he  _ has _ an idea. He’s never thought about it. He glances at her out of the corner of his eye. Her blonde hair is falling over her shoulders and she’s wearing one of her new tops, a white one with short, flowy sleeves, and a pair of skinny jeans. She looks like a normal girl that’s meant to be here, but she’s not. She’s from 1807 and she’s his soulmate who came to life when he held her hand.  _ My soulmate _ . He’s still not entirely sure how he feels about that whole situation, but he does know that he likes her. Likes having her here with him. 

There are a lot of things that bothered him about the Pygmalion and Galatea story, but it was still a love story with a happy ending. And even though it was creepy that the guy fell in love with the girl while she was still a statue, he loved her. 

They pull into the movie theater parking lot before Bellamy can even decide on if he wants to bring the story up to Clarke, and when they get out, Clarke scowls as she picks at her pants.

“They’re so tight.”

“Leggings are tight.”

“Yes, but they don’t feel like this.” Clarke looks up at him, pouting a little. “Do these get better? How can people wear them?”

“They get easier to wear the more you wear them.”

Clarke picks at them again and then nods her head a little. “I guess I should wear them more, but I still like my leggings more.”

“Yeah, most girls do.” Bellamy motions towards the building. “Come on, let’s go see our movie.” 

Clarke smiles as they begin making their way towards the doors, but when a car that’s going too fast through the parking lot nearly runs them over, she yelps and moves next to him, and Bellamy wraps his arm around her shoulders. With how well she fits in, Bellamy finds himself forgetting that this is all still new to her. 

“I do not understand how people can be okay with driving,” she mumbles, and Bellamy laughs.

“It takes a while to get used to it. O just got her driver’s license and it freaks me out whenever I have to ride with her.”

“Do you think I’ll ever learn to drive?”

“Uh,” Bellamy reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, “maybe, but it’s only been a week so why don’t we wait a little bit?”

Clarke smiles. “I agree.”

Clarke stays by his side as he orders the tickets, and he notices her looking at the changing options of movies before he guides her into the building. Since it’s the middle of the day, the place isn’t packed and Bellamy watches Clarke as she looks around. There’s a bar to the far right, and the bathrooms are to the left behind the wall with movie posters on them, and Clarke doesn’t waste any time making her way towards the racks with candy on them.

“Do you want some popcorn?” Bellamy asks as she picks up a pack of gummy bears and she turns to look at him.

“What are these?” She whispers.

Bellamy leans in. “They’re gummy bears,” he whispers back.

“Are they any good?”

“I used to like them when I was younger but I haven’t had them in a while. We can get them so you can try them.”

“Okay.” Clarke turns back to the candy rack, biting at her bottom lip as she looks at everything else. 

“Have you tried M&Ms yet?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Clarke picks them up, too. “Do we get them?”

“Yeah, let’s get them. And we’ll also get some sour punch straws.” Bellamy picks them out then turns towards the cash register. “Now, let’s get some popcorn and drinks.”

Bellamy decides to get them a large popcorn, and he orders himself a sprite and after talking to Clarke he gets her a Dr. Pepper, and then they’re heading towards their movie. The halls are lined with pictures of old movie stars and other movie posters, and Clarke looks at all of it before they make their way into the theater room. There’s no one in there as Bellamy guides Clarke to their seats.

“Are there going to be other people coming to watch the movie?”

“Probably,” Bellamy says as he begins to set their stuff down, “but it is the middle of the day, and sometimes people do have the theater to themselves.”

“Is it always this cold?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together as she sits down. “How could anyone enjoy this?”

“Shit, I should have told you to bring a jacket. Here.” Bellamy pulls his sweatshirt up and over his head and hands it to her.

“Won’t you be cold?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Bellamy gives her a small smile as he takes his seat, and Clarke hums as she slips his jacket over her head. It nearly engulfs her, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

Bellamy explains that the movie always starts later than it says, and while they wait they decide to break into the candy they bought. She goes for the gummy bears first, smiling as she holds the green candy between her fingers and squishing it a little, then popping it into her mouth. Bellamy grabs one for himself as he watches her, the corner of his mouth turning up. 

Like the first time she ate a cookie, she seems skeptical at first as she starts chewing, but when she realizes she likes it she smiles and digs in the bag for more. She goes through the orange, which she doesn’t like, then the red, which is okay, the yellow, the white, then back to the green which she seems to like the best. Then, Bellamy grins as he hands her the pack of sour punch straws.

He knows she hasn’t tried any sour food yet, but she doesn’t seem to notice the way Bellamy’s smile gets bigger as she picks up one of the straws and looks at it.

“It’s very sticky. What’s on it?” 

“Just try it,” he says, barely able to control his smile, and Clarke raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Why do I feel like I’m going to regret this.” She mumbles it more to herself than anything, and then she bites about a third of the straw off. 

It takes a moment, but then her eyes go wide as her lips press together and then they close as she shakes her head. Bellamy laughs, the sound echoing in the empty theater, and Clarke looks at him.

“I did not like that.” She scowls at the sour punch straw still in her hand. “It was very—”

“Sour?” Bellamy smirks as he grabs one from the pack and pops it into his mouth. “It’s meant to be.”

“Why would you subject yourself to something like this?”

He shrugs. “It tastes good.” He grabs another one and eats it, too, and Clarke looks at the piece still in her hand. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. I can go throw it away.”

“Does everyone enjoy sour stuff?”

“I guess it depends. Some people love it, others could do without it.”

Clarke’s eyebrows knit together as she takes a smaller bite of the sour candy and they stay that way until she swallows it. There’s still scowl on her face, and she looks from the candy to Bellamy.

“I still don’t like it.”

Bellamy laughs as he takes the piece of candy out of her hand then pops it into his mouth, and he takes the package away from her, too. “Then you can move onto the M&Ms. They’re chocolate.”

“Ooh, I like chocolate.” Clarke tears open the bag of M&Ms and dumps a few into her hand. “They’re colorful.” 

“And they taste good.” 

Clarke smiles at him as she picks up one of the pieces and eats it, her eyebrows arching up as she leans back in her chair. “I like these a lot more.” Bellamy reaches over to grab some of the M&Ms, too, but Clarke moves away from him and holds them out of reach. “I want them.”

“Hey, we’re supposed to share.”

“But it’s a small bag,” she pouts. “What if you eat them all?”

“I won’t eat them  _ all _ .” The corner of Bellamy’s mouth turns up. “We’ll each have half.”

“I don’t know, I’ve seen you eat all of Jasper’s cookies.”

_ Is she really trying to keep me from eating them? _ For some reason, the thought makes Bellamy smile even more, and he reaches out to try and get them, but Clarke holds them out even father. He leans over the armrest, making sure not to hit his drink, to the point where they’re face to face, and Clarke looks at him, her blue eyes bright.

“You promise me you won’t eat all of them?” She murmurs, and the butterflies in Bellamy’s stomach flutter.

“I promise. If you want, you can hold onto the bag and just hand me some every now and then. Okay?”

Clarke bites at her bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “Okay.”

The two of them stay like that for a moment, and suddenly Bellamy realizes how close they are. His arm is propped up on the other armrest to keep himself from falling on top of her, and their faces are close enough to where if he leaned in another inch then their noses would be touching. Of course, they’ve been this close before, but never in a dark room with no one around like this.  _ Well, I guess we have. Haven’t we? _

But this feels different. They’re together, waiting for a movie to start, fighting over M&Ms and talking about candy. This isn’t something they’ve done before with just the two of them. It’s nice. It’s fun. But Bellamy wonders if they may be getting a little too close too fast. He shouldn’t be feeling this way after a week, even if she is supposed to be his soulmate.

The sound of another group of people walking into the room breaks them apart, and Bellamy rights himself in his seat, shaking his head a little.  _ It’s just a bag of M&Ms, you can get them at the store _ . A nudge comes at his elbow and when he looks, Clarke is holding the bag of candy out and Bellamy holds up his hand for her to put some in it. The group of people go straight for the back, and they all look like they should be in class right now, but Bellamy can’t really say anything. He’s done the same thing.

The room darkens soon after, and Bellamy can feel Clarke shift closer to him when it does.  _ Right, she has no idea how this works _ . He leans over a little more until their shoulders are touching, and it’s like he can almost feel her relax beside him. 

“It might be a little loud,” he whispers, and Clarke glances at him for a moment before turning back to the screen, nodding her head.

As he expected, Clarke jumps whenever the intro comes on, but she settles back into her seat quickly once the movie begins playing. He made sure to tell her that if they saw this movie then it was supposed to scare her and that if she ever felt like she needed to leave then they could and then they could come back another day and watch something else. But, she seemed determined to go through with this, and Bellamy can’t help but be proud of her.

Throughout the movie, Clarke jumps a few times but doesn’t seem like she’s extremely scared out by it, though Bellamy has to admit that the scene with the kid in the hallway kind of freaked him a little more than it probably should have. And he’s pretty sure he can hear the kids in the back of the room making out through some of it, but when he looks at Clarke she doesn’t seem to notice anything. 

Overall, they both enjoy the movie, and Bellamy thinks it’s adorable when Clarke gapes at the ending. 

“They can’t end it like that! Can they?”

“Well, the thing is, that sometimes movies leave the ending open in case they want to make another one.”

“Do you think they’ll make a second movie for this one?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He shrugs, picking up their trash. “Sometimes it takes years for a sequel to come out.”

Clarke pouts. “I don’t want to wait years.”

“I don’t either, but I promise that other movies don’t end like this.”

“I hope not. If they did I don’t see why anyone would want to watch them,” she grumbles, and Bellamy shakes his head as he tries not to smile, then they make their way down the stairs and out of the building.

“So, how was your first trip to the movies?” He asks once they’re outside, and Clarke beams up at him.

“I loved it. I can see why people love coming here. Can we come back?”

“Sure.” He smiles at her. “Whenever you want.”

“Thank you.”

Clarke continues to smile as she climbs into his truck, and Bellamy finds himself incapable of stopping himself. There’s just something he loves about seeing Clarke so excited, and the fact that he gets to experience it with her makes it even better. She keeps his jacket on the entire ride to the store, and there’s something about seeing her in his clothes that makes him... _happy? Is that the word?_ _Maybe she would want to borrow one of my jersey’s for the tailgate. Wait. No. She’s not coming to the tailgate_.

“What are we going to get at the store?” Clarke’s voice breaks him out of his head, and Bellamy glances at her.

“We need to do a huge food run, so we’ll be getting a lot of stuff. Uh, the store can be packed sometimes, so if you start getting overwhelmed then we can always leave and come back another time to get everything else.”

“I think I’m getting better with being around so many people. It’s weird, though. I spent centuries around hundreds of thousands of people and yet I can’t handle a group of more than seven people.” She sighs, propping her elbow up on the door and resting her head in her hand. “Hopefully it won’t last much longer,” she mumbles.

Bellamy reaches across the center console and takes her hand, squeezing it a bit. “You weren’t actually awake, Clarke. All of this,  _ everything _ , is new, so, don’t try to push yourself too hard just yet. Okay?”

She looks at him then, a sad smile spreading on her lips. “Okay.”

Whenever they get to the store, Clarke stays next to Bellamy as they walk through the parking lot, but when they get inside she moves away from him a little to look around. There aren’t many people here either, so Bellamy lets himself walk a little slower than he normally would, content to just watch Clarke take everything in while he grabs the things they need as they go.

They spend time in the bath products section, with Clarke asking about the masks that they have and insisting on smelling all of the different kinds of body wash bottles they have, and then the shampoo. When she tells him that she really enjoys the green apple shampoo, he tells her to put it in the buggy.  _ At least now she’ll have an option and not just have to use my stuff _ . They weave in and out of the isles, stop by the crafts section, then the books, and then the movies. Clarke’s eyebrows arch when she sees all of the different movie options that they have, and she and Bellamy spend some time looking through them before settling on a couple of Disney movies.

When they get to the food, Clarke begins reading the labels on everything, and whenever something sounds like it could be good to eat, Bellamy tells her to put it in their cart.  _ If she’s going to be staying here then she’s going to have to figure out what she likes _ . They get more eggs, milk, cinnamon rolls, cookie dough, bagels, cheese, bread, cereal, stuff for spaghetti, stew, courtboullion, lasagna...by the time they leave the store, at least two hours have passed and their cart is  _ full _ . If the rest of them weren’t going to be home, then Bellamy doesn’t know how many trips he and Clarke would have to make to get everything inside, but Clarke texts everyone once they park and they all appear out in the driveway.

“When did the two of you leave? The sun is nearly gone.” Murphy groans as he opens the door to the backseat. “I was hungry like an hour ago.”

“Bellamy and I went to the movies.” Clarke says, grinning. “We saw, um... _ Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark _ .”

“The two of you went to the movies?”

“Alone?” Jasper and Monty raise their eyebrows, and Bellamy bites back a sigh.

_ Here we go _ .

“Yes. Why?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together and she tilts her head to the side as she looks at them.

The two of them shrug, each grabbing two handfuls of grocery bags. “Nothing.”

Bellamy glances at Miller and his friend smirks, but thankfully he says nothing as he moves to grab some of the bags, too. Bellamy is also aware of the fact that Monty and Jasper are whispering to each other as they make their way into the house, and he throws his head back, swearing up at the sky.

“Why is everyone acting strange?” Clarke materializes beside him with the large pack of paper towels. “Did I say something?”

“No, you didn’t. They’re just being weird.” Bellamy toes the front door open and motions for Clarke to go first. “Let’s ignore them and make cookies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, we get the tailgate! Also, courtboullion (coo-be-yawn) is very good. Highly recommend
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! I know I have a habit of going MIA but I promise I will never give up on this fic, I just got stuck :) I have a rough idea for things I want to happen in this story, it's just a matter of me connecting all of it lol now, with that being said...
> 
> it's game day :)

When Saturday rolls around, Bellamy starts awake to the sound of his phone buzzing on his nightstand, and looks at the time. It’s nearly 9 o’clock and he knows that he’s going to have to head to campus to help set up along with everyone else, but when Clarke shifts beside him he doesn’t want to move. Last night was one of the bad ones, and seeing her so scared when he woke her up from her nightmare tore at him.

As quietly as he can, Bellamy peels the covers off and rolls out of bed, making his way into the bathroom. He already talked to Raven and Octavia about them coming over to hangout with Clarke while he’s gone, but he can’t help but feel like he should be bringing her with him. _Maybe I could bring her to the tailgate with Octavia and Raven but then ditch the party and come back with them. If Roan lets me._

Bellamy sighs as he picks up his toothbrush. He knows Octavia used to love tailgating when they would go with their mom and her friends, and Raven is always looking for a chance to beat someone at beer pong, but does he really want to subject Clarke to all of it? _It’s going to be loud, and a lot more people than she’s used to being on campus, not to mention she’ll probably be questioned left and right_. Once he finishes brushing his teeth, Bellamy jumps into the shower and tries not to give himself a headache as he thinks about what he should do.

By the time he gets back into his room, it’s nearing 9:30 and Clarke is huddled under the blankets, still fast asleep. _Should I leave her here?_ He could always wake her up and ask if she wants to go with him, but he knows there’s a good chance she’ll say yes and he doesn’t know if he wants to hear say it or not. Bellamy runs a hand through his damp hair and tiptoes towards his bedroom door so he can get into the kitchen. It’s not like they haven’t talked about her story, but they didn’t go into _details_. _What if someone brings up the UK wanting to leave the EU? She doesn’t even know what the EU is!_

Someone sitting on the kitchen counter catches Bellamy’s attention, and when he gets a proper look, Jasper is looking at him from over his PB&J. 

“Morning,” the other guy mumbles around his sandwich.

“You’re never up this early.” Bellamy yawns, then shuffles towards the fridge.

“It’s party day, of course I’m up early.” 

Bellamy pulls out the gallon of milk and then grabs a box of cereal before going for the bowls. “Is anyone else up?”

“I’m pretty sure Miller is because I heard his T.V., Monty and Harper are up because I heard them giggling in the shower, but I didn’t check on Murphy,” Jasper yawns and stretches like a cat, then leans back on the counter.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t be up anyways.”

“Is Clarke coming with us?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s the best decision right now.”

“Oh.” Jasper pouts a little. “Okay.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” The other boy jumps off the counter without making a sound, and then he stretches once again before picking up the rest of his sandwich. “Party starts in two!” He calls over his shoulder, and Bellamy waves him off as he gets to work on his cereal.

Clarke doesn’t wake up until Bellamy is already done with his breakfast, and when she comes to sit at one of the island stools, he runs one of his hands through his hair. 

“Are you okay?” She tilts her head to the side a little, her eyebrows creasing together slightly.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Bellamy looks at her, and she shrugs. 

“I don’t know. You seem nervous.” She slides off the stool and makes her way towards the fridge, looking around inside of it. _I need to teach her how to cook._

“What do you want for breakfast?” 

“I would like to try these.” Clarke reaches in and pulls out the bag of bagels they bought at the store. “How do I make them?” 

“The same way you make toast, here.” Bellamy holds out his hand for the bag and Clarke hands it over, smiling.

“The toaster.” 

“Yeah, the toaster.” Bellamy finds himself smiling, too, as he pulls out one of the bagels and breaks it apart. “So, like the toast each side goes into one of the slots, and then you can set it to how many minutes you want it to cook.” 

“Wait,” Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together and she points towards the knob with the numbers, “that’s not the toastiness level?”

“No, it’s the amount of time it’s in there. Who told you that it was the level of toastiness?”

“No one,” Clarke murmurs, her cheeks turning bright pink, and Bellamy’s chest starts doing those funny things again. “I guess I just assumed…”

She doesn’t look at him as she talks and Bellamy can tell that she’s embarrassed, so he smiles a little. “Hey,” she looks up at him then, her blue eyes wide, “toastiness is a much better measurement to use than minutes.”

Clarke lets out a quick breath that sounds like a light laugh, the corners of her mouth turning up. “Now people will think we’re both crazy.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if more people thought it was the toastiness level and not minutes.” Bellamy puts the two halves of the bagel into the toaster. “Do you want it really toasty or slightly toasty?”

“How do you cook it?” Clarke looks from him to the toaster and Bellamy continues to smile as he turns the knob to five and presses the lever down.

“Toasty level five.”

Clarke bites at her bottom lip as she smiles up at him, then she turns around and heads back to the fridge. “Where is the cream you put on it?”

“It’s this.” Bellamy shows up behind her and grabs it from the top shelf just as Miller walks into the kitchen with them.

“Miller, I have a question,” Clarke says, straightening, and Miller raises an eyebrow at her before turning his attention towards the pantry.

“Hm?”

“What do the numbers on the toaster mean?”

“The toastiness level,” he calls over his shoulder and Clarke looks at Bellamy and giggles.

Everyone wakes up shortly after that and they all shuffle around the kitchen as they get their breakfast together. No one brings up the tailgate or asks if Clarke is going or not, and Bellamy is still wondering if he should bring her or not when she folds herself onto the couch beside him. 

“Octavia will be here in a few minutes and Raven says she’s still getting ready.” 

_Oh. Right._ “Are you sure you’re okay with staying here?” 

“I’ll be fine, Bellamy.” Clarke smiles at him. “I already told Raven and Harper what happened when the lights went out and they said that they understood. And Octavia wants me to show her my ‘princess lessons’.” 

“Princess lessons?” The corner of Bellamy's mouth turns up, and Clarke’s smile widens.

“Yes. The walking, talking, and way of thinking like a princess.”

“I’ll be sorry I’m going to miss it.”

“I’ll make sure to send you lots of videos.” 

Even though he’s not particularly sure about leaving Clarke alone again, he knows that he can’t be with her all of the time. _And if Raven and Octavia are here then it won’t be like they have no idea what’s going on._ He takes a silent deep breath and nods his head a little, and Clarke continues to smile as she settles into the cushions next to him. 

Raven and Octavia get there and those two, along with Harper, end up ushering all of the guys out of the house and Bellamy _swears_ he can hear the four of them giggling as soon as the door closes. _Yeah, they’ll be fine_. Everyone piles into the truck and Bellamy starts it, backing out of the driveway and heading towards campus.

Despite other people hardly being able to find parking, Bellamy doesn’t have too much trouble since Roan already said he would save them a spot. But it’s getting through all of the traffic that is the issue. After moving at a snail’s pace for at least thirty minutes, they finally pull into the parking spot and get out of the truck, and Roan throws his arm up.

“Fuckin’ finally!”

“There was traffic,” Bellamy grumbles, twirling his keys around his finger. “Where are we set up?”

“We’re just getting the last of the tables. Can y’all grab some chairs from the back?”

Bellamy and everyone nods their head and starts towards the back of the house, and then they’re joining the set up party. Really, when it’s game day there’s no specific time for when the party starts or when it ends, especially if their team wins. Before long, the five of them are milling around the grass and Bellamy is already on his way to being tipsy when his phone buzzes.

 _Attachment: 1 image_ _  
_ _Clarke really is a princess_

The picture is of Clarke sitting in a chair with her ankles crossed together, her hands in her lap, and she’s looking at something off to the side, but the way Octavia captured the moment, Bellamy could swear that he can see her in a ball gown. 

_Definitely_

Roan places another cup in Bellamy’s hand as soon he looks up and then he’s being pulled towards one of the beer pong tables. There are all of the guys from his fraternity surrounding him, some girls he doesn’t recognize, but some others he knows are from their sister sorority. But he doesn’t pay attention to them, especially with the buzzing going on in his pocket.

When he pulls his phone out about an hour later, there are a few texts from Clarke and each one makes him smile even wider. Even if he has to really try and focus on the screen. _Maybe I should grab a water..._

_Octavia is trying to find me a ball gown, do you not have them here?_

_I have just been told that absolutely no one wears them_

_Girls should be happy that they do not have to wear those things_ _  
_ _they bruise_

 _Attachment: 1 image_ _  
_ _They attacked me with makeup and a curler?_

The picture is of Clarke in makeup similar to what he’s seen Raven and Harper wear to the club, and her usual waves are gone as her hair is pinned up. But the way she’s smiling at the camera makes his heart flip.

_I think you look good :)_

He can hear someone snort over his shoulder and when he turns Miller is smirking at him. “What?”

“You two are adorable.”

Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Fuck off.”

Miller laughs as he walks towards one of the T.V.s that have been set up, and Bellamy turns his attention back to his phone.

 _Thank you :)_ _  
_ _I’m sorry for texting so much, I know you’re busy_

Bellamy’s smile falls as he reads that, and he hurries to respond.

 _Don’t be, I’m glad you’re texting me_ _  
_ _And don’t tell anyone, but I wish I was back home_

He locks his phone and slips it back into his pocket as he grabs another drink and sidles up to Miller now that the game is starting. He’s not standing there long when his phone buzzes again, and when he looks, he smiles wide.

_I won’t tell anyone if you don’t tell that I wish you were back home too :)_

Their team wins, more drinks are passed around, and before Bellamy knows it he’s being led to one of the back hallways with his hand in a pretty brunette’s. When she turns around to look at him, she motions for him to come closer and Bellamy leans the girl into the wall and she smiles at him before he kisses her. 

The worry about everything that’s been going on melts away and Bellamy lets himself get caught up in what he’s doing. The way the girl arches into him and threads her fingers into his hair, and how she moans when his hands slip under the hem of her shirt slightly. She’s been at his side for the past hour or so. He doesn’t exactly remember where she came from or how they even started talking, but he definitely isn’t complaining. He’s never been one to turn away someone who’s cheering him on while he’s playing a game, and if something wants to happen...She bites at his bottom lip hard, and Bellamy hisses, but before he can do anything, there are multiple hands on him and he’s being hauled backwards.

“Sorry!” Monty calls.

“We need to steal him,” Jasper adds, and then Bellamy is being hauled out of the front door and into the yard. There aren’t as many people out here, and Bellamy shrugs off his friends, turning on them.

“What the fuck was that about? I was busy!”

Jasper and Monty cross their arms over their chests. “You were making out with some random girl!” Jasper whispers angrily. 

“Yeah, man, it’s not cool.”

“What? Are you the hookup police now? Since when has me trying to get laid been a problem?” Bellamy growls, and he can feel himself getting pissed. “What’s _your_ problem?”

“What’s our problem?” Monty asks, his eyebrows arching under his dark hair. “Our _problem_ is that you have a sweet girl at home whose waiting for you to come back and instead you’re trying to get laid by a girl whose name you don’t know and won’t remember a few months from now.”

“This is about _Clarke?”_ Bellamy hisses. “We are not dating, she’s not my girlfriend, it’s only been a week. I wouldn’t even say we’re _friends_. She’s—”

“She’s your soulmate, Bellamy!” Jasper’s voice rises and Bellamy looks around to make sure no one heard him. “She’s _waiting_ for you to come home, she hasn’t stopped texting us since we got here because you quit answering her.”

“What?” Bellamy can feel himself deflate a little and Jasper pulls out his phone. Sure enough, it’s on the texts between him and Clarke.

 _Hey, Jasper, I’m sorry to bother you since you’re at the party, but what food does everyone like? Raven and Octavia want to help me bake something but we don’t know if we should make cookies or brownies. Does anyone have a preference?_ _  
_ _Does Bellamy?_

Bellamy’s heart skips a beat.

 _Like asking me about sweets is bothering me lol_ _  
_ _We’ll eat pretty much anything but Bellamy likes brownies_

There are more texts, and Bellamy’s eyes skim over Clarke’s.

_Octavia says that Bellamy likes goo-ee brownies, does everyone else?_

_Is there anything I should do for when all of you get home? Harper says you’ll need water_

_How is the party? I asked Bellamy when you might be home but he never answered me, I just don’t know how long we’ll be up_

_Attachment: 1 Image_ _  
_ _Okay, I love brownies_

The picture is of Clarke, Octavia, Harper, and Raven, and they’re all holding up slices of the brownies they made. They all have chocolate on their face, and Clarke seems like she was mid-laugh when the picture was taken. And, even though he’s drunk, Bellamy can hear that laugh clear as day in his head. A lump forms in his throat and he swallows around it, handing the phone back to Jasper.

“You say you wouldn’t consider the two of you friends and if you actually believe that, then you need to be the one to tell her how you feel,” Monty says calmly. “Because she does, and she doesn’t deserve being lied to.”

The front door to the house opens, but Bellamy doesn’t look to see who it is until the people come to stand next to them, and he realizes it’s Miller and Murphy. Miller holds up the keys and nods towards the truck.

“I think it’s time to go.”

On the car ride there, Bellamy sits in the backseat between Jasper and Monty. He sinks down, resting his head against the seat and crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn’t feel as intoxicated as he did when he was kissing that girl, but he definitely feels _something_.

 _Why would me kissing that girl be such a huge problem? It’s not like Clarke would get upset if she found out...would she?_ That thought doesn’t sit well with him. _She was upset when she found the nudes, but that’s understandable. She was probably more shocked than anything. But, Murphy did have to talk to her to even get her to talk to me again…_

He pulls out his phone to see what texts she sent him, but as soon as his screen lights up he only has enough time to see that there are about ten texts from her before it dies. _Perfect_. He sighs and throws his phone in his lap, wanting to close his eyes but knowing that if he does, there’s a good chance he’ll get carsick. 

The entire ride home, Bellamy is in his head about what exactly his friends were trying to get him to realize, and when they pull into the driveway, he still doesn’t fully understand. He and Clarke are friends, sure, but there’s nothing going on between them. She woke up because of him, she’s supposed to be his soulmate but that doesn’t mean that there has to be something romantic between them. _Could there be something romantic between them?_ Then, a thought hits him. _I’ve spent more time sharing a bed with her than I ever did with Gina. But we aren’t doing anything_. 

Bellamy drags himself out of the car and follows everyone else into the house. A couple of lights are on, and the smell of brownies is everywhere which makes his mouth water. But, when he turns the corner, his appetite disappears when he sees Clarke’s face light up when she looks at them, and guilt churns in his stomach. When her gaze finds _him_ , the guilt turns to acid. 

Before he can even make a step towards her, Jasper and Monty are at his sides again, pulling him towards his bedroom. He can’t turn around to try and say anything, he doesn’t even know what he’d say, but before the door to his room opens, he hears her.

“Is everything okay?” She sounds worried, that much is clear in her voice, and now he feels even worse.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Miller says. “Just drank a little too much.” 

“He’ll sleep it off,” Murphy adds.

The door to the room closes and then Jasper and Monty let him go, kind of forcing him to sit down on his bed. When he looks up at them, the looks they had on their faces earlier are back. _Jesus Christ I feel like I’m a toddler._

“Maybe you should take a shower and sleep it off,” Monty says softly.

“Yeah. We’ll put some brownies away for you tomorrow.” 

And with that, the two of them head out the room, leaving Bellamy looking after them. He groans, falling back on his bed. _Why the fuck am I in timeout? I’m the oldest one here_. He lays there for a minute, then decides that maybe he _should_ take a shower since he smells like the house they were in so, sighing, he lifts himself out of the bed and into the bathroom.

He tries not to think about anything while he bathes, willing his mind to go blank so he doesn’t give himself a headache trying to figure out why he feels so guilty. He really _shouldn’t_ , but since his friends decided to corner him and make him feel bad, he does. 

_We’re not dating._ He repeats, but even that doesn’t make him feel better. But, by the time he gets out of the shower and into a pair of pajama pants he physically feels better, but the pit in his stomach is still there. _Why do I have to feel like this? I could tell her, and then everyone would see that it’s not a big deal like they’re making it out to be._

He rolls onto his stomach and buries his face in the pillow. _I’ll go to sleep and then talk to her about it when I’m sober and not tired. How hard can it be?_ Thankfully, he can feel himself beginning to fall asleep before he puts much more thought into everything that’s happened. But then, there’s a soft knock at his door.

“Bellamy?” Clarke whispers when she opens it, but he doesn’t say anything. He listens as she walks across the carpeted floor and towards the side of the bed where he’s laying, and when he opens his eyes a little, there’s enough light to watch her place a bottle of water and few pills on the nightstand. 

When she turns, he reaches out and grabs her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she whispers, and her eyes spark in the little light that’s coming in from the hall. “I should let you get some sleep, I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

“You didn’t.” Bellamy knows he should probably let her go so she can go back out into the living room, but he doesn’t want to. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, and Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together.

“Sorry for what?”

“For leaving you here.” He swallows, looking up at her. “For leaving.”

“It’s okay, Bell,” Clarke kneels beside the bed, and Bellamy can see her face more clearly. “We had fun. Was the party good?”

 _The way she’s looking at me..._ Bellamy’s heart constricts. _Maybe they were right_. “It was good, but I’m glad to be home,” he whispers, and he’s shocked at just how _true_ it is. Even if he didn’t want to admit it in the car, he missed _her_. 

“Good.” Her smile widens a little, and she reaches up and squeezes his hand. “I should let you get some sleep. Octavia and most of the guys are already out. I think Raven and Harper are getting there, too.”

“Are you going to stay in here tonight?” The words are out of his mouth before he can even realize he’s saying them, and he bites the inside of his cheek. Her mouth opens slightly like she’s going to answer, but then her eyebrows furrow together slightly and she presses her lips together for a second.

“Not if you don’t want me to.” 

“No, I do.” He smiles a little. “I think I’ve gotten used to your snoring.”

“I do not snore,” Clarke laughs. “But, okay. I’ll be right back.”

With one last smile, Clarke is gone and Bellamy rolls onto his back. _God, how could I have been so stupid?_ He runs a hand over his face. _How the fuck is anyone supposed to deal with this?_ Clarke appears back in the room and she slides under the covers next to him. He feels _guilty_ , and having her smile at him doesn’t help.

He feels like he shouldn’t have asked her to stay in here tonight. Not with what he said to Monty and Jasper and especially not if she thinks that what’s going on between them is more than friendship.

 _But it’s not exactly friendship, is it?_ The little voice in the back of his mind says, but Bellamy tries to push it away. Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything and neither does Bellamy, and then sleep finally pulls him under.

When he wakes up Sunday morning, Clarke is wrapped in his arms and their legs are threaded together, and he begins to wonder just how dangerous all of this is. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaannndddd that's Bellamy being an idiot :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in two days...now if only I can do it for the rest of the chapters lol
> 
> Also! I haven’t responded to all of the comments from the last chapter but I will soon :)

Over the next couple of weeks, Bellamy feels off. Since the two games after the first one were away, Bellamy’s been able to talk himself out of having to go to the house to watch it, saying he either needed to do something for Octavia or even going as far to say that he got strep throat and didn’t want to get anyone else sick. Which may have resulted in everyone from their place being banned from showing up until they were feeling better, which Murphy wasn’t too happy about. But, aside from all of that, Bellamy feels like the truth is going to eat him alive.

He hasn’t told Clarke about what happened that night at the party, or why he was hauled off to his room by Monty and Jasper as soon as they got home, and he feels terrible.  _ Really fucking terrible _ . When he woke up Sunday morning to her in his arms and a soft smile he felt like shit, and not just from the hangover. Sure they’re not  _ dating _ , but there’s  _ something _ going on between them. He wouldn’t sleep like this with anyone else. Sure, when he brings a girl home or ends up at someone’s place he gives them all of the attention they deserve and he loves cuddling, but it’s different with Clarke.

Them sleeping together started because she needed someone to be there for her, and he  _ wanted _ to be there for her, but at this point, three weeks after she’s woken up, she isn’t crying anymore. They wake up together, they fall asleep together, they’ve spent more nights staying up and talking than he has with anyone since breaking up with Gina, only to wake up and text her while he’s on campus. 

He’s thought a lot about what Monty said, about how Clarke thinks of them as friends and if he wants there to be some sort of boundaries then he should talk to her. But, he’s also thought about how she would react if he told her. That night, he didn’t think it would matter. That she would understand that they’re not together and wouldn’t get upset but, now, he’s not so sure. The way she looks at him, and laughs at what he says, and always seems to find him when one of their friends does something...it’s not  _ just _ friendly.  _ Is it? _

Now, it’s another Saturday night and Bellamy is grilling at the barbecue pit while the others throw around a football, and they’ve even brought Jasper’s T.V. outside so they can watch the game. He’s just starting to flip the ribs when someone sidles up next to him, but he doesn’t need to look to know that it’s Clarke.

“Is that any good?” She points at the beer in his hand and Bellamy holds it out to her. 

“Do you want to try it?” 

She narrows her eyes at it for a second, her lips pressing together slightly before she reaches out and takes it. “What does it taste like?” 

“It’s not as bad as some of the other beers, I like it.” Bellamy shrugs slightly and flips the last of the ribs before putting the tongs down and turning towards her. They haven’t drunk around her yet, but she’s told him that she’s had wine before though she didn’t really like it. 

Clarke looks from him to the bottle then lifts it to her lips and takes a sip. He can’t tell anything from her facial expression, and when she moves the bottle away she smacks her lips a couple of times before smiling at him.

“I like it.” 

“You do?” Bellamy can feel the corner of his mouth turning upwards as Clarke nods. “Well, let’s get you your own.” 

Bellamy brings Clarke inside and grabs her a beer while showing her the other ones that they have, but Clarke tells him that she’ll just stick with the one for now and then they head back outside. Raven and Harper are in the process of taking off the pool cover and Octavia is throwing around the frisbey with Jasper, but Clarke doesn’t join anyone, instead opting to grab a seat next to Bellamy and the pit. 

She sips on her beer slowly, and even though Bellamy tries not to watch her, he can’t help himself. But that doesn’t last long when Octavia looks over and sees that Clarke has a drink in her hand.

“Clarke, you’re drinking!”

Clarke looks from Octavia to the bottle in her hand. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

Bellamy tries to hide his smile as he turns his attention back to the food, but he doesn’t miss the way Octavia runs over to her, followed by Harper and Raven. 

“So, how do you like it?” Harper asks.

“I think it’s nice. Much better than the ones we had back in my time.”

“I thought you didn’t drink beer then?” Raven says, and Bellamy can see Clarke shrug.

“I didn’t, but that didn’t stop Wells—” she pauses, and Bellamy looks at her out of the corner of his eye, “my friend from telling me about it.”

She’s told him about Wells, and Nicholas, and Marina, all of her friends from her previous life. Wells had been her best friend since birth and her thinking about him is what usually led her to crying the hardest. She doesn’t seem like she’s going to start crying now, but Bellamy has seen that look in her eye a lot over the last three weeks to know that she’s thinking back on that time. Thinking about the life she was ripped away from.

“Okay, well if you’re drinking we’re going to do it right,” Raven grins, and Bellamy looks over at her.

“I think we should let her finish her beer first and see how she feels after,” he says, but Raven raises an eyebrow at him as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“And I think we should let Clarke decide for herself,” is what she says before she turns back to Clarke and Bellamy takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

None of the girls are too happy with him right now either.

“I would like to just drink this for now. I’m not sure how much I would be able to handle.”

“Okay, then. Now, come on, we should get in the pool.”

Bellamy watches as the girls pull Clarke inside the house, and he runs a hand through his hair.  _ Seriously, it’s been two weeks. I’ve even been lying to get out of going, so why are they still pissed at me? _ It’s not like he was intentionally wanting to hurt Clarke or her feelings, he doesn’t even know if it will, but everyone is treating him like he’s some bad guy when he’s not. 

He moves the ribs from the grill to the tray and covers them with aluminum foil before putting more on and he picks up his beer.  _ I’m going to tell her tonight. Well...assuming she doesn’t get wasted before I can get around to it _ . Bellamy can hear all of the girls laughing inside of the house, and while he knows it shouldn’t be that hard to tell her the truth, he really doesn’t want to.  _ What if she is hurt by it? Or what if she really does have feelings for me?  _

“Pool time!” Octavia exclaims as the girls pile out of the house, and Bellamy watches as Clarke eyes the pool warily. They haven’t talked about whether or not she can swim, but the pool isn’t big enough to where that should be a problem. 

He tries not to watch her as she walks towards it then stops, picking at the towel that’s wrapped around her.  _ She looks uncomfortable _ . He notices the bikinis that the others are wearing and then his mind drifts back to the day Clarke wore that party dress and kept tugging at the hem of it. Without much thought, Bellamy puts the tongs down and walks towards her, and she looks up at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she nods her head a little, “I just—I’ve never worn a swimsuit like this. It’s...different.” Her cheeks pink and she looks away from him. 

“You can put my shirt on, if you want,” he offers, and Clarke looks at him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

“Can I?”

“Yeah, here.” Bellamy pulls it over his head and hands it out to her and Clarke takes it with a small smile before handing over her towel and Bellamy’s heart nearly pops out of his chest.

Her swimsuit is a dark blue bikini with silver designs on it, but Bellamy looks away quickly as she pulls his shirt over her head, and then she smiles up at him.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bellamy smiles at her as he hands back her towel and then he heads back to the food. Clarke seems a lot more comfortable now as she holds onto the ladder and climbs into the pool, jumping in when the other girls tell her to. The sight pulls at Bellamy’s heart, and he looks away, his jaw clenching. 

_ I need to tell her and then we can move on. _

“You know, she’s pretty hot for a two hundred-and-something year-old,” Murphy drawls from beside him and Bellamy turns on him.

“Shut the fuck up, Murphy.”

Murphy tilts his head back and shoves his hands in his pockets. “What? Afraid someone else will swoop in and grab her attention? It’s not like you actually  _ care _ .” Bellamy glares at his friend, and Murphy smirks, raising one of his eyebrows. “Or do you?”

The two of them stand there for a moment looking at each other, Murphy with a smirk Bellamy wishes he could wipe off as his jaw ticks. “No,” Bellamy says lowly, “my problem is you ogling her when she was clearly uncomfortable.”

“That didn’t seem to stop you, did it?” Murphy’s voice is harder than it was before, and Bellamy narrows his eyes at him. But before he can question why Murphy seems to be acting weird, Miller shows up with three beers and hands one to the two of them.

“Alright, clam down.” He wedges himself between the two of them, taking the tongs out of Bellamy’s hands. “Go seethe somewhere else.”

Bellamy takes his beer then goes and sits down in the chair that Clarke had been sitting in earlier and pulls out his phone. The group chat with the other guys in the fraternity is going crazy with how many people are sending texts all at once and Bellamy occupies himself with trying to read most of it. He doesn’t look at the pool, or his friends, opting to just focus on his phone and trying not to freak out at the thought of telling Clarke he was trying to get laid two weeks ago. Though, he might not tell her  _ that _ exactly.

Before he realizes it, the food is done cooking and everyone piles around their patio table. The trays get placed in the center as plates are passed around, and Bellamy finds himself sitting across the table from Clarke. He’s gotten into the bad habit of watching what she does, but it’s only because he wants to make sure she’s not getting overwhelmed or confused about what’s happening. 

She waits as everyone digs into the plates, her eyes watching as everyone knocks into each other. Something Bellamy has come to learn over the past couple of weeks is that she still has the manners of a princess. Where he and his friends are used to just grabbing what they want and interjecting themselves into the conversations, Clarke waits patiently until she believes it’s the right time to grab food or for a break in the conversation. 

He nudges her foot under the table. “You can grab whatever you want, you don’t have to wait.” 

Clarke looks from him to the trays and back again. “I’m afraid I’ll lose a hand.” 

“Do you want me to get something for you?” 

“No, I can try.” 

Clarke presses her lips together for a moment then she holds onto her towel with one hand as she reaches with the other. She pulls back a couple of times, but she finally grabs a couple of ribs from off to the side and smiles at him when they’re safely on her plate. 

Bellamy smirks as he stands and bends over the table, stabbing at a couple of chicken thighs before putting one on Clarke’s plate, and Miller even puts two links of sausage down for her. Clarke’s eyes widen at all of the food that’s on her plate now, and Bellamy just really can’t help but smile at her.

Everyone eats while passively watching the game with most of them cheering when there’s a touch down and grumbling when something happens that they don’t want to happen. Bellamy finds himself not thinking too much about what he’s going to have to do tonight, what he’s going to have to tell Clarke, but five beers in and he wonders if he’ll have to tell her at all.

He’s in the kitchen putting up the ground meat when it comes to him, and Raven is washing her hands at the sink. Since Clarke has been woken up, the house has become even more of a hot spot than it already was. Raven, Harper, and Octavia are over more than they already were, and that’s saying something considering Harper and Monty are dating.

“Raven, I have a question.”

“What?” She doesn’t turn around to look at him, but Bellamy doesn’t need to see her face to know she’s still upset with him.

“How would you feel about Clarke coming to live with you?”

_ That _ gets her attention, and she turns around, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, I just think she might benefit from living with another girl,” he says calmly, still wrapping up the ground meat. 

“You want Clarke to move out of here and to my place above Sinclair’s? How drunk are you?”

“I’m not  _ drunk _ .” Bellamy protests, but he knows the look in Raven’s eye well enough to know that she’s two seconds away from calling him out on his bullshit. “What?”

“Okay, I’m going to say this once, and you better listen to me.” Raven walks towards him, and he looks down at her. “Clarke is  _ your _ soulmate. She doesn’t want to live with me, or Harper, or even Octavia which is saying something because Octavia has asked her a few times. If you want to be a chicken shit and not tell her how you really feel then that’s your choice, but don’t you ever try to pawn her off on someone else just because you want to be a wimp. Do you understand?”

Bellamy glares at her. “How can you be pissed at me for kissing someone? It’s not like I cheated on her.”

“No, I was  _ annoyed _ with that,  _ now _ I’m pissed. You cannot sit there and treat her like she’s the best thing to have ever happened in your life only to turn around and ask her to leave. She is  _ your _ soulmate and  _ you’re _ her friend. Don’t think I haven’t heard you two talking late at night or seen the way you two have some sort of weird ass telepathy thing going on. Do you actually want her to leave? Or do you want her to leave so you don’t have to talk to her about what happened? Look me in my eyes and tell me you want her gone, and if you mean it I’ll make her a place tomorrow. Do you?”

_ No _ . He doesn’t. Even if the thought sounded good in his head, he doesn’t want her gone. He could never ask her to leave, and even though he’s not sober right now, if he tells Raven yes then he’ll regret it in the morning. He knows he will. And he’s already told her too much that he wants her here with him. He doesn’t know how he would feel if he comes back from campus one day and she’s not there to greet him.

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.” Raven snorts and shakes her head. “Don’t ever ask me a stupid question like that again. Grow a pair,” she huffs, and then she walks out the kitchen and into the backyard, leaving Bellamy standing in the kitchen.

He runs a hand through his hair and sags against the counter.  _ Of course _ he doesn’t want her to leave, but he had thought about asking Raven if Clarke could move in with her before. But, that was  _ before  _ he got used to having her here.  _ Before _ they became friends. At this point, he’s not even sure he could fall asleep without her next to him. 

Bellamy places the ground meat in the fridge then makes his way to the bathroom. There’s no telling how much longer everyone is going to want to stay up, but he’s not exactly in the party mood right now. He’s starting to get a headache and he’s getting tired, and there’s a paper that he’s going to have written by Tuesday that he hasn’t even started on yet. 

When he emerges back out of the hallway, he notices Clarke in the kitchen, standing on the counter trying to get something from the top shelf of the cabinet. She’s looking through a few different boxes, and when she tries to turn around, she wobbles.

“Clarke, what are you doing?” Bellamy makes his way to where she’s standing and she looks down at him.

“Octavia said she wanted cookies but I don’t know where they are.” She pouts, and Bellamy’s stomach flips.

“Come here, I’ll get the cookies.” Clarke turns around slowly and Bellamy reaches up for her, holding onto her hips as she grabs onto his shoulders and then he puts her down on the floor. Her cheeks are pink and her eyes look a little glassy, but she doesn’t seem like she’s drunk, or even tipsy. 

Bellamy closes that cabinet door and moves to the cabinet on the other side, reaching up and grabbing the cookies from the third shelf. Clarke takes them with a smile, but there must be something on his face because she stops, tilting her head to the side and her eyebrows furrowing together.

“Is everything okay?”

“Why do you think there’s something wrong?” He asks, silently cursing himself for being an idiot.

“A feeling.” She holds the cookies against her as she looks up at him, and Bellamy runs a hand through his hair.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

_ Fuck. _ Her blue eyes feel like they're piercing him, and suddenly he doesn’t think he can keep looking at her. He looks away for a second, looking down at the ground as he crosses his arms over his chest. She’s still wearing his shirt over her swimsuit, and he looks away from her bare legs.

“When I went to the party after the tailgate two weeks ago, I stopped texting you.”

“Yeah, and? You were at a party, I understand that.” Her eyebrows furrow together even more as she looks at him, and Bellamy presses his lips together.

“I know, you do, but there was something else going on. I, uh, I ended up making out with someone.” He watches her face closely, but she doesn’t even blink when she says:

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, I just...didn’t know how.”

She stands there for a second before giving him a small smile. “It’s okay, Bell. We’re not dating. But, thank you for feeling as though you should tell me.” She reaches out and places a hand on his arm and Bellamy’s breath catches.

“So, we’re okay?”

“Yeah,” she continues to smile, “we’re okay.”

“Good.” Bellamy smiles, too, and then Clarke turns and heads out of the sliding door.

Bellamy waits a moment before following Clarke out of the door, and then he takes a seat next to Miller who’s texting someone. His friend doesn’t look up when he sits down, and Bellamy takes a moment, sipping on his drink. Clarke is piled around on a blanket with the other girls, with Monty and Jasper joining them and Murphy walking towards him and Miller.

“I told her about the girl,” Bellamy says when Murphy gets close enough, and both him and Miller turn to look at him. “She said it was fine.” 

Miller clicks his tongue.

“What? She said that we aren’t dating and thanked me for feeling like I needed to tell her. We’re good.” 

“You won’t be good if Raven tells her you were trying to move her out of here,” Murphy says, and Miller nods his head.

“Yeah, that was fucking stupid.”

“I know, I know. Raven already got on my ass about it,” Bellamy grumbles. 

“As long as you know you’re being an idiot, we’re good.” Miller smirks and then gets up, moving to join the rest of their friends.

“Come on, go be nice to your girl.” 

Bellamy sighs and pushes out the chair, following after his friend. “She’s not my girl,” he sighs, and he can hear Murphy snort behind him.

Once he joins the rest of them, seeing Clarke relaxed and laughing pushes away any doubts he may have been having after their conversation, and things go back to the way they were before. He feels better now after getting that off his chest, and he hopes that once his friends understand that there’s nothing for them to be worried about, they’ll let up on him. 

They snack on the cookies that have been brought out, and before long Jasper disappears then comes back with enough mixed drinks for all of them along with a couple of shot glasses and an almost empty fifth. Bellamy takes his drink while looking at Clarke who lifts her cup up to her nose and sniffs. She eyes it for a second before looking towards him, and Bellamy raises his glass at her. 

She does the same and they both take a sip at the same time, with Bellamy chuckling when she screws her face up.  _ She’s adorable.  _ And, that’s how it goes. Everyone talking, laughing, and just having fun in the backyard. They talk about their classes, the work that's due, what they want to do for fall break, which has to be explained to Clarke, if anyone has any Halloween plans...it’s nice. 

And by the time it hits midnight, Bellamy realizes that Clarke is a lightweight. A  _ serious _ lightweight. It’s when she goes to get up from the couch that Bellamy notices her stumbling, and he can already tell she’s going to trip over the coffee table before he’s up and out of his seat, wrapping his arm around her.

“Okay, you need to come this way first.” He guides her away from the table and she giggles.

“That is a poorly placed table.”

“I think you’re just drunk.”

She giggles some more. “I am a lady, I have never been drunk in my life. Maybe you are drunk, sir.” 

That gathers some laughter from around the room, and Bellamy feels himself wanting to laugh, too. 

“Can’t princesses have a little too much to drink?” 

Clarke snorts and rolls her eyes. “My mother would have put me in a room and thrown away the key had I gotten drunk at any point. But, I must say your alcohol is much better than anything we could have had. Though I do not want to try wine anytime soon.” Clarke’s face scrunches up. “I don’t like wine. It’s very bitter.”

“Neither do I.” At this point Bellamy is trying not to laugh too much whereas everyone else isn’t trying to hide it. “Come on, let’s get you into bed.”

“Oh, are you coming, too?” She asks, her eyes wide as she looks up at him, and Bellamy can feel his face heat up. He knows everyone is looking at them, and it doesn’t help that he still has his arms around her, either. 

“Not yet, but I think you need to lay down.” 

He doesn’t look at his friends as he guides Clarke towards the room, and once he gets her into the bed he pulls the covers up over her. She pouts at him and he smiles.  _ She’s cute when she pouts.  _

“I’ll go grab some water and some ibuprofen and I’ll be right back. Okay?” 

Clarke continues to pout at him before she nods, and Bellamy smiles at her before he heads back out of the room. He glances at his friends and his sister, all of whom are eying him, but he doesn’t say anything as he grabs two bottles of water and the bottle of medicine, then he walks back to his room and closes the door behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...thoughts? Comments? Concerns? I love hearing back from you!!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m here! :)

Another week goes by, marking Clarke’s official month of being here in Arkadia with him, and Bellamy gets an idea. His mom hasn’t asked about seeing Clarke since that night, after he told her that she would need some time to adjust, but he thinks she’s done that. At least somewhat. 

She’s asleep on the bed while he sits at his desk trying to get some homework done, and Bellamy mulls over the idea as he looks at her. It’s still early in the afternoon, so if he calls his mom to ask if she would want to come over for dinner at their place, then there’s the possibility that she’ll say yes, but he wants to talk to Clarke first. 

Like she can read his mind, as he’s looking at her, her eyes blink open a couple of times and then she stretches, making small noises before she yawns. 

“I’m sorry, I seem to keep falling asleep.” She rolls over onto her side and pulls a pillow towards her chest, looking at him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Bellamy smiles a little at her before he runs a hand through his hair and sits up straighter. “Uh, I have a question for you.”

“Yes?” She doesn’t waver in her gaze as she looks at him, and Bellamy can feel his nerves begin to rise as he looks down at his lap for a moment.

“How would you feel about meeting my mom tonight?” He looks up at her through his eyelashes, but when she smiles that soft, sleepy smile at him his heart flips as he looks at her more.

“I would love to meet her.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I think it’s time,” she props herself up, “do you?”

Bellamy smiles. “Definitely.” He stands and pulls his phone out of his pocket, and Clarke stretches out for a second time. “I’ll call her and see what she says. I was thinking we could have dinner here, but if you want to go to her house then we can. I don’t know if you want everyone there or—”

“Could we do it here?” She asks softly, her eyes a little wide. “I think I would feel better if we stayed.”

“Sure. My mom will probably enjoy that since she won’t have to cook.” 

“Okay.” Clarke smiles and rolls out of bed, running her fingers through her hair. “I should bathe. What should I wear to meet your mother? I have more dresses now, or those horrid jeans—”

“You can wear leggings and a t-shirt if you want,” Bellamy chuckles lightly, “she won’t care.”

Clarke turns to him, pouting slightly. “But first impressions are important and this is your mother. What if she doesn’t like me? Or what if I wear something absolutely horrendous and she laughs at me?”

Bellamy puts his phone up and crosses over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “She’ll love you, just like everyone else does. And she wants to meet you just as much as you want to meet her, okay? Just breathe.”

“Okay.” Clarke takes a deep breath, like the ones he did with her the night the electricity went out, and closes her eyes for a second. “I’m okay now.”

“Good.” He squeezes her shoulders for a second. “I’ll let you get ready.”

When Bellamy walks out of the bedroom he pulls his phone out of his pocket and goes to his mother’s contact, hitting the call button. It’s not until that the phone is ringing that he remembers she’s probably at work, even though it’s a Saturday, but he also knows that there’s no point in hanging up because she’ll just turn around and call him right back which would probably take more time away from her shift.

“Hey, hun,” Aurora’s voice filters through the speakers and Bellamy smiles.

“Hey, mom. Are you busy?”

“I’m taking a quick break before I check on my next patients. Why? What’s up?”

“I, uh,” he runs his free hand through his hair as he walks into the living room where everyone else is sitting, “I was wondering if you’d want to come over for dinner tonight and meet Clarke.”

That get’s everyone’s attention in the living room, and they all sit up straighter. Bellamy doesn’t look at them directly, opting to just stare at the wall in the kitchen.

“I would love to.” He can hear the smile in his mom’s voice. “What time do you want me to come over? And is there anything you need me to bring? Food or—”

“No, we have all of that covered. But I don’t know, maybe 6 o’clock? 5? Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll show up at 5 and make sure you’re not burning anything.” There’s voices in the background and he can hear his mom take a deep breath. “I have to go, but I’ll see all of you tonight. Love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, too, mom. See ya.”

“Your mom is coming over for dinner?” Jasper asks, his eyes wide. “To meet Clarke?”

“Yeah.” Bellamy takes a deep breath then runs a hand through his hair. “Clarke is getting ready, and I have to start cooking.”

“We’ll start cleaning.” Monty and Jasper jump up and Miller gets up, too.

“I got the laundry.”

Murphy just settles further into the couch, ignoring what’s going on and scrolling through something on his phone, but then Miller is there grabbing him by his shirt and hauling him to his feet. Murphy grumbles and glares at his friend, but then he starts picking up the blankets that have been scattered around the living room and Bellamy takes another deep breath.  _ It’ll be fine. She’ll love Clarke. Just like everyone else does _ . 

~

To say Bellamy is a little nervous would be an understatement, but saying that Clarke is also a little nervous would be an even bigger understatement. Bellamy looks at her through the open bathroom door, and he watches as she brings her shaking hands up to run through her hair. He knows this is big for her, especially since she hasn’t met anyone else outside of the people she lives with and Octavia, Raven, and Harper her entire time being here, but she’s also supposed to be his soulmate. He’s still not entirely sure what to think of  _ that _ , but they are friends, and that’s the biggest thing that matters.

He doesn’t take his eyes off her as she straightens, rolling her shoulders back and lifting her chin. Even though she’s only wearing leggings and a t-shirt, Bellamy could almost see her in a ball gown. She catches his eye in the mirror before turning around and looking at him directly. She walks out of the bathroom, folding her hands in front of her, and Bellamy stands from his desk chair.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Her shoulders move as she takes a deep breath. “I feel as if I’m out of practice.”

“Out of practice for what?”

“Greeting people. It has been over two hundred years.” She looks up at him, her bottom lip becoming caught between her teeth. “Is there anything I should do?”

“Just smile. My mom will love you.”

“Okay.” Clarke takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly, and Bellamy reaches out and squeezes her hand.

“Come on.”

Based on the time, his mom should be here soon, but he’s not particularly worried about the time. Monty takes the food out of the oven as Jasper grabs some plates and sets them on the counter, followed by Miller who grabs the bowl of vegetables and sets it beside the pan with the beef tips in it. 

“It smells delicious in here.” Her hand falls from Bellamy’s as Clarke wanders over to the pan of still steaming food, and it’s like he can feel some of her nervousness ebb away. 

“Good, that means we did our jobs right.” Miller smirks at her and Clarke’s smile widens before Jasper places an arm around her shoulders.

“We may not look like much, but we know how to impress.”

“I can only hope I can do the same.”

“You’ll be fine,” Raven says as she leans on to the counter. “Mama Blake is the most laid back person ever.”

Clarke’s eyebrows furrow together. “Laid back?”

Before anyone can answer, there’s a knock at the door and Bellamy has just enough time to meet Clarke’s eyes before he moves to open it. On the other side, his mom is holding a tray of brownies and a bouquet of flowers already in a vase with a blue ribbon wrapped around it.

“You didn’t have to get anything, mom.” He takes the tray of brownies from her but Aurora only raises an eyebrow.

“Octavia told me that Clarke likes brownies, sue me.”

“And the flowers?”

“This place could use some flowers,” she huffs, and Bellamy can only smile as he shakes his head and leads his mom down the hallway.

Clarke comes into view as they reach the end, and her eyes flit from Bellamy to his mom before she curtsies. She  _ actually  _ curtsies. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you La—Ms. Blake.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Clarke.” Aurora smiles before she moves forward and wraps Clarke in a hug, and Clarke seems stunned for a moment before she smiles at Bellamy over his mom’s shoulder. “And you are even more beautiful than your picture.”

“Thank you.” Clarke’s smile widens.

“And I bought these for you. Lord knows that living in a house with boys is not always the prettiest.”

“Hey,” Bellamy protests, but his mom ignores him as she links her arm with Clarke and they walk towards the kitchen island where Raven and Octavia are sitting. 

“Now, Octavia told me you like brownies.”

Bellamy doesn’t crowd Clarke or his mom while they talk, instead just opting to lean onto the bar with a bottle of water and watching them while trying not to smile too wide. He can visibly see Clarke begin to relax the more his mom pulls her into the conversation and, weirdly enough, it’s like he can almost  _ feel _ her relax. But, he was nervous, too, so her relaxing makes him relax. 

Over the past month, he thinks he’s gotten better at not hovering over her and trying to protect her from doing anything. Which, he still hasn’t brought her back to campus, but he’s planning on bringing her again, soon, and seeing how it goes. She hasn’t asked about it, but he’s also made sure that they go out and do  _ something _ every day, even if it’s just going to the park for a couple of hours. He doesn’t want to keep her locked up in the house, but he still feels like it may be too early to introduce her to anyone he knows.

“Right, Bellamy?”

His mom’s voice pulls him out of his head and Bellamy looks over at her, his eyes wide. “What?”

“See, I told you he wasn’t paying attention,” she whispers to Clarke, and Clarke giggles before looking at him.  _ What’d I do? _ Bellamy can feel the tips of his ears turn red, but he ignores it. “I  _ said _ that you were going to have to bring Clarke over for movie night.”

Before Bellamy can answer, his mom turns back to Clarke. “I have such a cute baby picture of him in the tub with his hair sticking up like alfalfa—”

“ _ Mom!” _ He tries to interject, but the damage is done. All of his friends bust out laughing and Bellamy rolls his eyes, wishing the floor would swallow him up.

“Who’s Alfalfa?” Clarke asks and, suddenly, Bellamy isn’t as annoyed anymore.

Once everyone has regained their bearings and they’ve stopped trying to get Bellamy’s hair to stick up straight, they all grab a plate and load it down, then cram around the dining room table to eat. Chairs have been brought out from everyone’s rooms to accommodate the rest of them, and Bellamy finds himself sitting next to Clarke with Octavia across from him and his mom across from Clarke while the rest of their friends are seated around them.

So far, Aurora has asked Clarke what her favorite food is, and how she’s liking being here, and Clarke hasn’t stopped smiling. But the fact that she blushed a little when Aurora raised an eyebrow at her and Bellamy going to the movies together brought back up some of his nerves.  _ She can’t really expect me to not bring her the movies...right? We used to go twice a month. Clarke didn’t even know what a movie was until a month ago! _

A hand coming to rest on his knee stills it’s bouncing but when he looks over, Clarke isn’t looking at him. Instead, she’s saying something to Monty as her thumb runs across the seam on the side of his jeans, and Bellamy places his hand over hers. It’s the smallest thing, but now he’s pretty sure he doesn’t remember why he was anxious in the first place. After a moment, he removes his hand to run his fingers through his hair and Clarke removes her hand, too, which he hates missing. 

“Clarke, I know you don’t have a room to yourself here, but if you’d like I have a spare one at my house.” Bellamy looks at Octavia, his eyes narrowing, but his little sister only shrugs and shakes her head a little, her eyes widening. “I could fix it up and you could move in with me and Octavia. If you want.”

Bellamy can feel Clarke tense beside him, and his stomach drops. “I think I’d feel better if she stayed here.” He says before he can register that that’s what he’s going to say, and his mom raises an eyebrow at him. It’s the  _ mom _ look, but Bellamy doesn’t look away from her.

“That is very kind of you,” Clarke says softly, “but I would not want to intrude. I’m quite happy here, and I believe I should stay, at least until I’m able to adequately operate in society.”

Aurora smiles. “I understand, Clarke. Still, the offer will always be there.”

“Thank you.” Clarke smiles, then looks at Bellamy and he reaches out and places his hand over her knee and squeezes a little. 

He can feel all of their friends looking at the two of them, or  _ him _ , more specifically. He  _ knows _ that he shouldn’t have asked Raven if Clarke could move in with her. He gets that he fucked up. He feels really guilty about it, too, but him asking and his mom trying to move her out are two completely different scenarios. 

Before he leaves his hand there for too long, Bellamy pulls it away with one last squeeze then tries to focus on his food.  _ Mom should know that she can’t just spring something like that on somebody. Let alone someone she just met. And who used to be a statue at that! _

The rest of the dinner is the same as before they began eating, with Aurora asking Clarke questions, but Bellamy really perks up when she brings up the mention of Clarke’s parents. Of course, Bellamy told his mom the story of how Clarke became a statue, how could he not? But, he knows that Clarke hasn’t told everyone about her past. He knows that it’s hard for her to talk about it, but now she can tell him stories of her and her friends, or of her and her parents, and not begin to cry. Though it took a while. 

“What were your parents like, Clarke?” Aurora asks, taking a bite of her food, and Clarke smiles softly.

“They were wonderful. I was, how do you say, a daddy’s girl?” Clarke says, her eyebrows furrowing at Bellamy as he nods his head, the corner of his mouth turning up. “I wanted to do everything with my father. More often than naught my mother would catch me sitting on the armrest of my father’s throne while he talked to his people, even though I was supposed to stand off to the side with a straight back and my chin held high.” 

Aurora smiles. “Bellamy was the same way when he was a baby, though he wouldn’t leave me alone.” 

Bellamy groans softly and leans back in his chair, running his hands over his eyes.  _ Of course she can’t just leave that alone _ . 

When he looks back at his mom, she’s smirking at him and Bellamy gets up, putting his plate in the sink and then moving to grab a brownie out of the pan that his mother brought. Seriously, he has never met someone who can bake brownies better than his mother and Bellamy will fight anyone who says otherwise. 

When he sits back down, Clarke smiles at him as she finishes up the last bit of food on her plate, and then everyone is grabbing a brownie, too. 

Another hour and a half goes by until it’s nearly eight o’clock and Aurora begins to yawn. At this point, they’re all still sitting around the dining table just talking and grazing on the leftover brownies that are sitting in the middle of the cleared out table. Clarke is a lot more relaxed than she had been a few hours ago, and Bellamy is pretty sure he’s never seen his mom smile at a new person this much. 

But, it doesn’t take long for her to begin to yawn, and Bellamy knows that while his mom would stay here and talk well into the night, she has work to get up for in the morning. Bellamy catches his mom’s eye after one particularly big yawn, Aurora nods her head slightly before sitting up straighter.

“I hate to cut this short, but I believe I should be getting home. I’m not used to staying up like the rest of you.” She stands, as does everyone else, and the round of hugging begins before she gets to Clarke, having her promise that she’ll come by soon, and then Bellamy is walking her towards the door. 

Usually, they’ll part there, but this time Bellamy walks her out to her car, but she doesn’t get in it immediately. 

“She’s sweet, Bell,” Aurora smiles. “And everyone seems to like her.”

“Yeah, she’s amazing,” Bellamy says, a smile already making its way onto his face before he realizes what he just admitted. “You know, we’re good friends.”

“Uh-huh.” 

“What?” 

“With how the two of you act, you seriously expect me to believe that the two of you aren't sleeping in the same bed?” Before Bellamy can even respond, his mother continues. “I know that nothing like  _ that  _ is going on, but I do know you, Bellamy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You seemed pretty adamant about her not leaving here.”

“And? She’s just beginning to understand how everything is working, you can’t expect her to move in with you and Octavia when you’re gone most of the day and Octavia is at school and not get bored or maybe burn the house down or—”

“ _ I understand that,  _ Bellamy. But you cannot stand here and tell me that she’s not cooped in this house either, or that there isn’t something there between the two of you.” With the way his mom is looking at him, Bellamy feels like a little kid again. 

“I told her I’d help her. That I’d take care of her,” he says softly. “I can’t go back on that.” 

Aurora reaches up, placing her hand on the side of his face. “I know that, honey. I just wanted to hear you say it.” 

Bellamy nods his head a little and his mom kisses his other cheek. “Send your sister home in an hour, and I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, I will. Love you.” 

“I love you, too.” And with one last smile, she backs out of the driveway and disappears down the road. 

When he gets back inside, everyone has migrated into the living room and most of them are puppy piled on the couch. Clarke looks at him before he starts down the hall and he smiles at her a little before ducking into his room. All things considered, this night went the best it could have gone.  _ But it could have gone better without us talking about my childhood _ . 

As Bellamy is grabbing his pajamas, there’s a soft knock at the door before Clarke slips into the room, lacing her hands together in front of her. 

“How do you believe dinner went?” Her voice is quiet as she talks, and Bellamy recognizes the unsureness in her eyes. Like the time he tried to get her to flip a pancake. 

“It went great.” He smiles at her. “My mom loves you.”

“Do you really think so?” Clarke’s eyes widen, and it makes Bellamy’s heart flip. “I didn’t think—”

Bellamy walks towards her, and she looks up at him. “My mom thinks you’re great, Clarke. You don’t have to be worried, okay?”

“Okay.” She smiles a little. “I like her, too.”

“Good. Because I’m sure she wants me to bring you over sooner rather than later.”

“That sounds nice.” Clarke’s smile widens and she opens a drawer to pull out her pajamas, too. As Bellamy watches her, he thinks about what he told his mom and how he knows that Clarke can’t stay in the house forever, and a thought comes to mind.

“Hey, Clarke?” 

“Mhm?” She doesn’t turn around as she opens a different drawer to grab a hairbrush, and Bellamy runs a hand through his hair.

“How would you like to come to campus with me Monday?” 

At that, Clarke turns around, her eyes wide. “Campus?” 

“Yeah. I want you to come with me. We can grab lunch, too. Whatever you want.”

Before Bellamy can register what’s happening, Clarke goes from the other side of the room to his arms, and Bellamy’s stunned for a moment before he wraps his arms around her.

“I’d love to,” she whispers, and Bellamy’s chest expands.

“Good.” Before he can stop himself, he presses a kiss to the side of her head, and Clarke beams up at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already have ideas for chapter 13, so hopefully it won't take me too long to update again <3
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been gone for a long time, I know.
> 
> Please don't hate me

Despite the fact that Bellamy is still very anxious about bringing Clarke to campus, he can’t deny that seeing her so excited makes him happy. _Really_ happy. As he pulls onto the road that leaves to the parking lot he usually parks at, Clarke wiggles in her seat as she sips on her coffee, and it pulls a smile to Bellamy’s face. 

Even though he’s tried his best to make sure that Clarke gets out of the house for some amount of time every day, he knows that nothing can compare to her actually coming to campus with him. Last night everyone sat around and talked about which classes Clarke could come to, and which ones she wanted to go to, so he’ll have to walk her to meet up with Monty after history, but this time they’ll have lunch together. 

When he pulls into the parking lot Clarke turns and grins at him, her free hand playing with the strap on her backpack where her journal and sketchbook are. She looks nervous, but if he didn’t know her he wouldn’t recognize it. 

“You ready?” He asks, and Clarke nods her head. 

“Yes, very.”

“Good. Lets go.” 

Both of them hop out of his truck and Clarke pulls her backpack up onto her shoulder before meeting him in front of the vehicle, and Bellamy motions for the two of them to start walking. Much like the first time, Clarke looks all around and smiles at the squirrels that run across the sidewalk. It’s cooler than it had been, and there are even halloween and fall decorations in the windows of some of the buildings. 

“What is that?” Clarke asks, pointing towards one of the windows where a person has put up Jack Skellington. 

“It’s a character from a movie called _Nightmare before Christmas_.” 

“The nightmare before Christmas?” Clarke repeats, and Bellamy nods his head. 

“It was a really popular movie growing up. In fact, we all end up watching it once we get home every Halloween.”

“Isn’t Halloween coming up soon?” Clarke asks, glancing back towards the window. 

“Yeah, it’s a week from this Saturday.”

“Are you going to do anything for it?”

“I’m not sure. We don’t exactly celebrate Halloween how we used to when we were younger. We usually go to a party and then if someone decides to stay sober we go home early in the morning.”

“Do you wear costumes?”

“You can, if you really want to. I stopped doing that a couple of years ago, but—”

“Bellamy!”

 _Fuck_. He can feel Clarke move a little closer to him. “Who’s that?”

“Hey, Roan.” Bellamy gives his friend a tight smile, and he glares at him a little, but the other guy seems oblivious to the way Bellamy is trying to make him disappear.

“And who might you be?” Roan smiles at Clarke, and Bellamy watches as she smiles back.

“My name is Clarke,” she says, holding out her hand, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too. I’m Roan.” Bellamy watches as the two of them shake hands, and he definitely doesn’t miss the way Roan flicks his eyes over her body before he smirks. “I like the accent.”

“Thank you.” Clarke continues to smile, and Bellamy wonders if the pinkness that’s on her cheeks is from the chilly air or if Roan just made her blush.

“What are you doing up this early, Roan?” Bellamy asks, trying to change the subject, but Roan doesn’t even look at him.

“Exam in the testing center, it was the only open time. Where are you from?”

“England,” Clarke says easily, and Bellamy’s heart threatens to drop out of his chest.

“What’s a girl like you doing all the way over here? And with him?” Roan jots his thumb in Bellamy’s direction, and Bellamy resists the urge to swat it away.

“Oh,” Clarke looks between the two of them, the pinkness on her cheeks deepening. _So, he made her blush_. “I was an exchange student in high school and I became friends with Octavia. I’m here for my gap year.”

“Really?” Roan’s eyebrows arch under his dark hair, and Bellamy listens to the clock tower chime the time.

“We gotta go, I’ll be late for class,” Bellamy interjects, hoping that his friend gets the point, and Roan’s eyes slide from Clarke to him and back again.

“Right.” Roan nods his head. “What are you doing this weekend, Clarke?”

“I don’t know.” She lifts her shoulder slightly when she says it, and Bellamy would _swear_ that he can see the gears turning in Roan’s head before he speaks again.

“Our fraternity is going to have a spot set up to tailgate and you should come. You’ll get to see what the full college experience is and it’ll give me a chance to pull this one out of the house.” He points towards Bellamy again, and Bellamy rolls his eyes.

“I’ll have to talk to Octavia—”

“Bring little Blake with you.” Roan grins. “I gotta go, too, but,” he looks down at Clarke, his smile nearing predatory, “I’ll be looking for you.”

“I’ll see you then.” Clarke ducks her head, a smile still on her lips before Roan looks over at Bellamy and nods his head before starting down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

Bellamy lets out a long sigh once his friend is out of hearing range, and Clarke turns towards him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “That was Roan?”

“Yeah.”

“Octavia told me he can be intimidating.” She glances to where Roan just turned the corner. “I’m inclined to agree with her.”

“Well, he has his moments.” Bellamy pulls his phone out of his pocket then looks at the time. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

Clarke nods her head and they start towards the classroom, and Bellamy fists and unfists his hand at his side. _Well, I guess that’s the best it could have gone_.

They both take their seats at the back of the class and Bellamy pulls a notebook and a pen out of his bag the same time Clarke does, and she looks over at him and smiles. The tension and anxiety that he’s been fighting for the last ten minutes begins to dissipate a little, but not enough. _If we’re going to go to the football game, then we’re going to have to make sure she knows her story completely._ He knows he can’t just show up without her, but if he does he’s not sure if he’ll be able to survive the night.

 _She did good earlier_ , he tells himself. _She can handle it_.

“You did a good job earlier,” Bellamy says quietly, and Clarke looks over at him, her blue eyes bright. “With Roan and keeping with the story.”

“Did I?” Her eyes widen. “I must admit I was terrified.”

“Roan has that effect on people but, yeah,” Bellamy smiles, “you did really good.”

Clarke smiles back at him, and then for the rest of class he finds himself incapable of really paying attention. _We’re going to have to make sure she can answer anything when the tailgate comes. But how much are people really going to press her for some things? Everyone will be looking to get drunk. Not to mention all of us will be there, and maybe Octavia_ …

The rest of the day goes by without them running into anyone else, and Bellamy lets out a sigh of relief once they’re back in his truck. Despite the nerves that Roan gave him earlier, Bellamy would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy having Clarke on campus with him. She’s fascinated with everything, and he loved getting to watch her feed the squirrels that ran up to her. _Maybe I could bring her back more_.

When they get home, Clarke yawns and Bellamy follows her towards their— _his_ —bedroom, and Clarke drops her backpack onto the floor as she climbs into bed. Bellamy smiles as he sets his bag onto his desk and then he sits down as Clarke curls into a ball under the covers.

“I’m so tired,” she yawns, and then she looks at him. “How are you never tired when you come home?”

“Oh, I am,” Bellamy says, trying to fight a yawn himself. “But, I try not to take naps.”

“That seems like a dreadful thing to do.” Her eyes begin to flutter closed. “You should take a nap, you might find that you like it.”

“I don’t know, you’re in the middle of the bed.”

Clarke scoots over in the bed and then pats the empty spot beside her and Bellamy can’t stop smiling as he crawls into bed beside her, laying on his back. She moves closer to him, and Bellamy opens one of his eyes as she smiles.

“Better?” She asks, and Bellamy smiles a little, too.

“Mhm. Now, go to sleep. I’m trying to take a nap.”

Clarke laughs then, and Bellamy is pretty sure the smile stays on his face until he falls asleep.

~

The rest of the week leading up to the tailgate, Bellamy finds himself worrying a lot more than usual. She’s come to campus with all of them for the entire week, but not to art history with Bellamy since he didn’t want her around Roan again until the tailgate. Of course, when Octavia was told that she could come to a tailgate with them she was excited, but Bellamy seemed to burst her bubble when he said he wasn’t going to let her drink. 

Now, Bellamy is sitting on the couch while everyone else gets ready, and he can’t seem to get his leg to stop bouncing. As usual, the girls have taken over his bedroom so they can get ready but he’s grown used to it at this point. It’s as much Clarke’s room as it is his. His phone vibrates in his pocket and Bellamy pulls it out, watching as message after message appears on his screen from the fraternity group chat, and he sighs. _Here we go_.

“How much do you want to bet that Roan hits on Clarke within five minutes of us parking?” Murphy tosses himself over the back of the couch, but Bellamy doesn’t look at him.

“He’s already tried hitting on her, that’s not a fair bet.”

“Okay,” Murphy props his legs up, “how much do you want to bet that she’ll get hit on five minutes after we park?”

Bellamy sighs, casting a sidelong glance at his friend. “She was uncomfortable the last time it happened, you shouldn’t be betting on it.”

“Betting on what?” Monty asks as he walks in from the hallway and Jasper follows him eating marshmallows.

“That Clarke is going to hit on as soon as we park,” Murphy says, looking over at the two of them.

“Oh, definitely,” Jasper snorts, and Bellamy glares at him. “I mean, she _will_ , but that doesn’t mean she’ll have to deal with everything alone.”

“Yeah, I won’t leave her side.” Monty smiles a little, but Bellamy can’t bring himself to smile back.

“I think we all know who won’t be leaving her side.” Miller smirks as he walks into the living room, and he pushes Murphy’s feet off the back of the couch. “Don’t be a dick. If she’s uncomfortable—”

“I’ll ride to her rescue, don’t worry.” Murphy rolls off the couch and stands, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looks down at Bellamy.

“What?” Bellamy raises an eyebrow, but Murphy only shrugs and then the door to Bellamy’s bedroom opens.

The rest of the girls walk in first, with Raven in ripped jeans and Harper in some brightly colored shorts, and then Octavia moves as Clarke comes into view. And that’s all Bellamy can focus on. She’s wearing a dark blue skirt with a white v-neck, and when she looks at him she smiles, biting at her bottom lip. 

_Fuck._

He can hear some words of approval from the others around him, but Bellamy can’t seem to find it in him to pay attention to them.

“We figured if Clarke is supposed to be friends with Octavia then it would make sense that they match somehow,” Harper says, smiling. 

“This is the shortest skirt I’ve ever worn.” Clarke looks down, tugging at the hem of her skirt before Octavia reaches over and straightens it, and then she looks back at Bellamy. “What do you think?”

“Uh—” Bellamy coughs, trying to clear his throat, and suddenly he wishes Clarke wouldn’t look at him like that. “You look good.”

“Thank you.” She smiles brightly at him then, but the blush that used to appear doesn’t come. 

“Alright, are we ready? I’m waiting to party.” Raven looks around the room and everyone begins filing towards the door. 

At this point, Bellamy isn’t surprised when Clarke appears by his side, and he opens the passenger door to his truck for her before getting in the driver’s seat. It’s just something they’ve come to do now. Anytime they’re going anywhere, Bellamy opens her door for her, she’ll smile at him and tell him thank you, and then he hands her the aux cord to play what she wants. Which is usually YouTube videos talking about things that have gone on in the world, or a few songs that some of the others think she’ll like. They have a system, and the first time Bellamy realized it was when he accepted he would rather have Clarke with him everywhere he goes than just leaving her at home. So, it didn’t take that long. It also didn’t take long for people to realize that if Bellamy was driving, Clarke got shotgun.

On their way to campus, Octavia, Harper, and Raven are all talking in the backseat with Clarke turning around to talk to them every now and then, but Bellamy couldn’t help but notice how Clarke kept tapping her fingers on the door. When he looks over at her as he comes up to a redlight, she’s chewing at the inside of her cheek and he reaches over, nudging her arm with his hand.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Mhm.” She nods her head but keeps staring out the window. “I’m okay.”

“You sure? Because you seem like you’re nervous.”

She looks at him then, her eyes widening a little. “Possibly.”

“It'll be fine,” he smiles at her. “We’ll be there.”

“I know, I just…” she takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to mess anything up. It was already overwhelming enough having Roan ask me where I was from let alone a group of people I’ve never met before.”

“I haven’t met most of them either,” Octavia says from the backseat. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I think that is easier said than done.” Clarke sighs, but she turns and smiles a little at her. “But, I’ll do my best.”

Bellamy smiles at her. “You’ll do great.”

~

It takes a while to get through the traffic, but Bellamy pulls into one of the parking spots that Roan blocked off for them and then Monty pulls into the one beside him. Everyone clambers out of the vehicles, with Clarke taking more care than usual since Bellamy is pretty sure she’s worried about wearing a skirt that's short. But, when her feet are on the ground she looks towards Bellamy and smiles a little before he gets roped into saying hi to Roan.

“Finally,” the other guy booms, “what took you so long?”

“Traffic,” Bellamy says, shaking his friend’s hand. “Do you need us to do anything?”

“Maybe grab a few more tables from the house.”

“I got it,” Jasper says, and Miller follows him with a nod towards Roan.

“What’s up, Roan?” Octavia smiles up at him, and Roan pulls her in for a hug.

“Hey, kid. Ready to party?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Except she’s not drinking.” Bellamy looks pointedly at his friend, but Roan only smirks. 

“Right.” Bellamy watches as Roan turns his smirk towards Clarke, who’s standing between Raven and Harper. “What about y’all?”

“I’m ready to kick your ass at beer pong.” Raven grins.

“Well, let’s get started.”

Everyone else says their hellos and then Bellamy watches as Roan keeps his arm around Octavia’s shoulders and Raven’s as he leads the way towards the rest of the people in their house. Bellamy knows that Roan is as protective over Octavia as he is, so it’s not like he’s worried about that, but it’s Clarke that he thinks about. When he looks at her, her hands are clasped in front of her as she walks, and she’s looking around like she’s worried something is going to happen.

Bellamy slows down his pace a little, and Harper seems to notice this because she speeds up and begins walking next to Monty as Bellamy falls into step with Clarke. “Overwhelming?”

“A little.” Clarke’s blue eyes turn up to look at him. “I know you said that there would be a lot of people, and loud music, but I didn’t think it would be like this.” Her voice is soft and low as she speaks, and Bellamy’s surprised he can even hear her. 

“If you want to leave at any point, all you have to do is tell me.”

“I know.” She smiles a little at him. “But, I’ll try and stay until the game is over.”

“Okay.” Bellamy smiles at her. “Then, we’ll go home and have our own party.”

“Okay.” Her smile widens, and Bellamy wants to put his arm around her, to reassure her, but he knows that if he does that then they’ll be asked if they’re dating and he doesn’t want to put Clarke in that situation.

But, Clarke seems content to just walk beside him and Bellamy’s fine with that. Introductions are made to everyone else that they’re going to be partying with, and then Bellamy lets himself relax a little when he realizes that Clarke seems to be relaxing, too. Despite Raven’s insistence that she’s going to beat Roan at beer pong, she seems determined to keep Clarke close to her side. There are a few points where Bellamy has to unclench his fist when he notices someone getting too close to Clarke for comfort, but he relaxes again when Raven seems to send them on their way.

Bellamy begins to smile when he hears Clarke laugh, and he seems to pay more attention to her than the guys he’s trying to talk to most of the time, but it’s only when Clarke sidles up to him when he’s throwing the football that he finally lets himself take her in. Her eyes are bright and her smile is wide, and her cheeks are pink as she looks up at him. _At least she doesn’t seem overwhelmed right now_.

“Can I try?” She bites at her bottom lip as she looks at the football in his hands, and Bellamy smirks at her.

“Do you remember what I taught you?”

“Uh-huh.” She bounces on her heels. “Can I throw it?”

“Sure.” Bellamy hands it over to her, and she twirls it around in her hands for a moment before placing her fingers how he showed her and turning her body, facing Miller who’s waiting for the throw. 

She positions her feet, pulls her arm back, and then lets the ball fly through the air and Bellamy grins as he watches it land in his friend’s hands. Clarke seems proud of herself, too, because she laughs sweetly as she turns back to look at him. 

“I told you I remembered.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Good throw.” A girl says from off to the side, and Bellamy and Clarke look over. Josephine Lightbourne, a girl that he’s talked to a few times and who is in their sister sorority, is standing a few feet away. She smiles at Clarke, holding out one of her hands while the other holds onto her drink. “We haven’t met. I’m Josephine.”

“Clarke.”

Josephine’s smile widens, and Bellamy can feel unease begin to curl in his stomach before he has to hurry and catch the ball that’s being thrown back to him.

“Oh, you are british,” he hears Josephine say. “Roan told me, but I had to hear it for myself.”

“Yes, I am.”

“How are you liking Arkadia?” 

“It’s wonderful, um—”

“Do you want to get a drink? Let the guys get back to playing with each other?”

“Wow, Josephine, you’re hilarious,” Murphy drawls as he walks up to Bellamy, but Clarke doesn’t seem to understand what Josephine means exactly because she only smiles before:

“Sure.”

Bellamy watches as the two of them walk towards the kegs, and then he’s being pulled towards the beer pong table by Murphy while Miller walks with them with the football in his hands. Since he actually has to focus on what he’s doing he can’t try and find Clarke how he wants, but he tells himself that she’s being looked after. It’s not that he has anything against Josephine, but her smile didn’t sit right.

 _You’re just being paranoid_.

~

The game comes and goes with their team winning 41 to 7, and then Bellamy finds himself wanting to get out of there. Of course, Roan tries to convince him to stay so they can celebrate, but Bellamy tells him that he has to get his sister home and _no, she’s not taking an Uber_. He stopped drinking a couple of hours ago and switched to water, not that he actually had a lot to drink in the first place, and then he starts to look for everyone else. He finds his friends relatively easy, and then he finds Clarke sitting on a blanket on the ground with Josephine and Octavia, and he raises an eye at the cup in Octavia’s hand.

“O,” he sighs, and his sister turns towards him, smiling.

“It’s just coke, calm down.”

“Uh-huh.” Bellamy shakes his head, and he notices the corner of Clarke’s mouth turning up. “Come on, we’re all getting ready to leave.”

“I thought you’d be the first one to get to the party,” Josephine says, leaning back on her hands. “Why leave so soon?”

“I’m babysitting.”

“ _Babysitting_ ,” Octavia huffs. “You’re the one who invited me.”

“Only because Clarke convinced me.”

“Rude.” Octavia glares at him, but she gets up with a sigh as Clarke gets up with her.

“Before you go,” Josephine says, looking up at Clarke, “there’s going to be a Halloween party at my sorority in two weeks. You should come.”

“Oh, um—”

“And make sure to wear a costume.” Josephine smiles, then she looks at Bellamy and raises an eyebrow at him. “That goes for you, too.”

“We’ll see.” Then, he looks at his little sister. “You’re not coming to that one.”

“I know, I know.” Octavia rolls her eyes then she says bye to Josephine before starting towards where the truck is parked, and Bellamy waits for Clarke to say her goodbyes, too, before they join everyone else.

There is still a round of goodbyes to be said, but once they’re all done, Bellamy slides into the driver’s seat of the truck after Clarke is in the passenger seat, and he looks over at her. Her eyes are already beginning to droop as the rest of their friends pile into the vehicle, but she opens them and smiles softly at him.

“Tired?”

“A little.” She yawns, covering her mouth before she huddles into the seat. “I had fun.”

“I’m glad.” He smiles at her. 

“But, I’m ready to be back home.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

Bellamy reaches over and places his hand on her knee, and Clarke’s hand comes to cover it before he turns around and backs out of his parking spot, and he chuckles lightly as he watches Octavia and Raven lean on one another and close their eyes. It’s weird, since he knows for a fact that everyone could keep partying, but it seems like once they know they’re going home, they can’t bring themselves to stay awake.

When he pulls into the driveway, he has to shake Clarke’s shoulder a little to get her to wake up as the others get out and start walking towards the house, but when her eyes open she grimaces, clutching her hands over her stomach. Bellamy’s heart drops as he looks at her, and he leans over the console, trying to get a better look at her.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t feel good,” she grumbles, and Bellamy unbuckles her seatbelt. “My stomach hurts.”

“How much did you drink?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you eat anything?”

She looks at him then, pouting. “Not much.”

“You’re probably dehydrated and need some food. Hold on.” Bellamy jumps out of the truck and makes his way to the other side of the truck and opens the door. 

Clarke looks down at him and Bellamy moves to pull her into his arms. She wraps hers around his neck and leans her head on his shoulder, and he can feel guilt pulling at his chest. _I should have watched her better_. He struggles to open the front door, but when it’s open he bypasses the living room, opting to go straight to his, and he lays her down on the bed.

“I need to change,” she mumbles.

“Okay, well, you can change and then I’ll go get you some water and something to eat. Is there anything you want?”

“Um…” she plays with the blanket on the bed before peeking up at him through her eyelashes. “I like PB&Js.”

“Okay,” he smiles softly, “I’ll make you one.”

He closes the door softly behind him before starting towards the kitchen, and everyone looks at him as he begins to get the bread and peanut butter and grape jelly. “Clarke’s not feeling well. Does anyone know how much she had to drink?”

“She shared the beer pong cups with me, but it wasn’t like there was much in them,” Raven says, looking from him to the hallway. 

“I only ever saw her with maybe two beers,” Jasper chimes.

“I didn’t see her with a mixed drink.” Harper looks at him. “But—”

“Josephine gave her some shots,” Octavia says. “Clarke told her that she had never done any—”

“How many?”

“I don’t know, maybe three?” Octavia’s eyebrows furrow together. “It wasn’t that much.”

“Well, it’s not _that_ much when you’re not a lightweight like her,” Bellamy sighs. He tries to work on the sandwich as fast as he can, and then Miller hands him a water as he makes his way back to the bedroom.

When he opens the door, Clarke is huddled under the blankets, the top of her head being the only thing that Bellamy can see, and her blue eyes find him when he walks in. She sits up, the blankets pooling around her waist and Bellamy notices that she’s wearing one of his shirts as he hands her the plate with the sandwich and the water.

“Thank you,” she murmurs as she takes the plate. “Your shirt was in my drawer and it seemed really soft.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Bellamy sits down on the bed beside her, watching as she takes a small bite of the sandwich. “I heard you did shots.”

Her eyes are wide as she looks at him, still chewing. “A few.”

“Next time, we’ll make sure you have something to eat before we leave.”

“I didn’t like the shots.”

“Yeah, they’re not fun but they’ll definitely do the job if you’re trying to get drunk.”

“I do not think I want to get drunk again.” Her nose scrunches up, and Bellamy smirks.

“That’s what everyone says but that doesn’t keep them from doing it again.”

The corners of Clarke’s mouth turns up and she ducks her head as she smiles. Even though Bellamy is still upset with himself for not checking up on Clarke sooner, he can’t help the smile that makes its way onto his face as he leans back on the bed.

“Will you stay with me?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy says, still smiling. “I’ll stay.”

He repositions himself on the bed to where he’s leaning against the headboard, and Clarke leans against it, too, as she continues to eat. Then, once the sandwich is gone, Clarke’s head finds its way onto Bellamy’s shoulder, and that’s how they stay. 

Eventually, Bellamy leans his head against hers, willing himself to not start thinking about the upcoming Halloween party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: I already have some of chapter 14 written :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back!!

The two weeks leading up to the Halloween party are filled with more stress on Bellamy’s part than he anticipated. He doesn’t want to run the risk of people cornering Clarke because they think they’ve figured out that she’s the statue, even though his friends keep telling him that that’s highly unlikely. Even bringing her to campus he wonders how many people look at her and wonder why she seems so similar to the missing statue, but that doesn’t compare to Josephine showing up at their table while they’re at one of the dining halls and helping herself to Bellamy’s french fries. 

But, Clarke seemed happy when she showed up and Bellamy forced himself to relax a little. It was clear that everyone liked Clarke, and how could they not? She was funny and charming and really sweet. Even if she did start teasing Bellamy more and more. And the accidental innuendos hadn’t stopped either, but he couldn’t hold that against her. 

Now, the night of the party, Bellamy waits in the living room while the girls finish getting ready in his, and he’s excited to see what Clarke is dressing up as. No one would tell him, so he’s just left wracking his brain trying to figure it out. He can hear them giggling and laughing, but he’s getting impatient. Not to mention that they’re about to have to leave and he has a feeling that none of them have gotten very far with their costumes. 

“You worry too much, has anyone ever told you that?” Miller asks as he sits down beside him, and Bellamy rolls his eyes. 

“Nope. This is definitely the first time I’m hearing of it,” he sighs, and Miller nudges him with his elbow.

“Cheer up. You’re about to go to a party, you don’t need to bring everyone else down.”

“I know how to party,” Bellamy huffs, and he can hear Miller chuckle just as the door to his bedroom opens, and Bellamy stands, looking towards the group of girls walking out of the door.

Clarke is saying something to Raven when they come out so she’s not looking at Bellamy, but he’s looking at her. She’s wearing a knee length blue dress with a blue headband in her hair and it’s been put up in a bun.  _ What _ —the corner of Bellamy’s mouth turns up.  _ Cinderella. A princess _ .

She looks at him then, the corners of her mouth turning up as she walks towards him then looks down at her dress. “It’s not exactly a  _ costume  _ costume, but—”

“You look great.”

She turns her attention back to him. “Who am I?”

“Cinderella.” 

Clarke’s smile widens as she looks up at him, and Bellamy can feel his heart flip. “And you’re a gladiator.”

“Yes, I am.” 

“I like it.” Clarke’s eyes roam over him and Bellamy watches as her cheeks begin to turn bright pink before she looks back at his face.

“Come on, we’re going to be late!” Jasper calls, and then everyone is making their way towards the front door, with Bellamy motioning for Clarke to go first before he turns and locks the door.

_ Party, here we come _ .

~

In all, it’s not a bad party. Bellamy was worried about them first showing up, since he’s not sure who all is going to be here, but no one swarmed Clarke and Raven and Harper seemed to be sticking at her side more than usual, so Bellamy tried to let himself relax a little. That is, until Roan showed up. Again, he doesn’t have anything against the guy, but he knows what Roan is like, and he wants to keep him away from Clarke. 

“She looks good,” Roan says as he sidles up to Bellamy, but Bellamy doesn’t even glance at him as he moves to get a cup of punch.

“Care to be more specific? There’s a lot of girls here.”

“And yet, you know exactly who I’m talking about.”

Bellamy sighs as he straightens, looking over at his friend. “What’s your obsession with her?”

Roan smirks. “What’s yours?”

“I don’t know what—”

“No, of course, you don’t.” Roan chuckles. “What—”

“Bellamy!” Josephine calls his name and Bellamy turns towards her, raising an eyebrow. She’s wearing a tight green skirt that looks like it has a scale pattern on it and a purple crop top with cartoon clams over the chest. He saw her earlier, but they hadn’t said hi to each other yet, and he noticed her talking to Clarke, but it wasn’t long until someone else got Josephine’s attention.

“Yeah?”

“I need a beer pong partner,” she pouts.

“Roan?”

“Don’t look at me.” Roan holds up his hands. “I have a pool game lined up.”

“You’re the best person here.” Josephine reaches out and places her hand on his bare arm, and Bellamy can feel himself losing this fight before it even begins. She pouts again. “Please.”

_ Dammit _ . He and Josephine have a weird beginning, with both of them flirting more than either of them really cared to but, then again, no one ever really says  _ no _ to Josephine. “Fine,” he sighs.

“Great! Come on!” She grabs his hand and begins to push through the crowd, and Bellamy ends up spotting Clarke by the pool table. 

She seems to realize that he’s looking at her because her eyes find him, but she’s not looking at him for long before she turns back and looks at the pool game that’s going on. Though, her looking at him causes him to pull his hand out of Josephine’s, and he rolls his shoulders back as he takes up one of the sides of the beer pong table. 

Across from him is Atom and Roma, and the two guys look at each other for a moment before Atom and Roma each take one of the ping pong balls and get ready to line up their shots.

“You ready?” Josephine asks, and Bellamy pops his neck.

“As I’ll ever be.”

~

He’s played beer pong with Josephine and Atom before, but not so much with the brunette. Though, he does recognize her as the girl he was kissing all those weeks ago. He tries not to look at her too much as they play, and before long Atom and her lose the game and two more people take their spots as Bellamy and Josephine get ready to take the beginning shots. 

He promised Clarke that he wouldn’t crowd her, since he knows that she wants to be able to talk to people without having him constantly hovering over her, but he really can’t help himself when it comes to trying to figure out where she’s at. When he looks after making one of the cups, he notices that she’s one of the people holding a pool cue now, and the sight pulls a smile onto his face. Raven is beside her with two cups in her hands and he can tell that she’s talking to her, but then...his stomach drops.

Dax comes up behind Clarke and says something, and Bellamy watches as Clarke jumps a little at first but then smiles slightly as she nods at him and then Dax’s hands are on hers as he says something to her. Bellamy’s hand curls into a fist as he watches, but then it’s over and Clarke turns and smiles at Dax again. He shouldn’t be getting pissed, and he knows that, but he is and he can’t help it. 

_ I’m such a fucking idiot _ . For whatever reason, he decided that he wasn’t going to try and get with anyone else for the time being, even though Clarke said that they’re fine when he told her about kissing Roma—he learned what her name is from Josephine—and he thought that Clarke wouldn’t flirt with anyone either.  _ Why wouldn’t she? _ It’s not like there’s a rule against it between the two of them. 

_ She can talk to whoever she likes _ . She has a phone, and Instagram, and she’s a person. This is her reality now, and she should be able to live in it how everyone else is. But, again, for whatever reason, Bellamy thought of himself as her person. But he doesn’t even know what that means exactly.

Bellamy takes a deep breath and tries to push those thoughts out of his mind as he turns his attention back to the game, but it doesn’t take long for him to look over at Clarke again only to see her giggling at something Roan says into her ear.  _ Jesus fucking Christ. Get a hold of yourself _ . 

It’s when he looks away, though, that he doesn’t see Clarke move away from the other guy, or how she looks over at him, too. No. Bellamy turns his attention back to the game and doesn’t hesitate in giving Josephine a hug when they win the game for a second time. It’s a party and it’s supposed to be fun. And that’s exactly what he’s going to do. Have fun. 

~

“Bell? Can we go home?” Clarke’s voice comes from somewhere off to the side, but Bellamy doesn’t look away from the table in front of him as he gets ready to take his shot.

“You can go home. I’m staying,” he says, his voice coming out harder than he thought it would, but he can’t really bring himself to care.

She moves closer to him and he glances at her. Her eyebrows are furrowed together and the corners of her lips are turned down. “But I don’t know where it is.” 

Her voice is soft, barely above a whisper, and if he wasn’t so angry then he knows it would pull at his heart, but right now he couldn’t care less. He’s on a winning streak and he’s drank more than he originally intended, but that doesn’t matter. He’s having fun. Or, he  _ was _ . 

He turns towards her, looking down at her face. “That’s not my problem.” 

“Why are you being like this?” 

And just like that, something in him  _ snaps _ .

“Because I don’t want you here,” he hisses, the memories of what happened earlier coming back into his mind.

Clarke’s eyes harden, and he watches as she pulls herself up to her full height and tilts her chin up, the corners of her mouth turning up as she looks at him. 

“Fine.” 

She turns on her heel and makes her way through the crowd, and Bellamy shakes his head as he turns back to the table. No one else seems to have noticed what just happened, too engrossed in their own conversations to really care. He lines up his shot and takes it, willing himself to forget that she even came here in the first place. 

It doesn’t work, at least, not completely, but there’s something nagging at him in the back of his mind.  _ Why did she smile at me? _ The thought frustrates him even more. She comes here and starts flirting with everyone and then she smiles at him? What was that about? 

He drinks the cups that the other team makes the ball into, but just when he’s lining up his shot, something hits him.

_ All of my training was centered around not letting my emotions show _ ...and the thought of her smiling at him the same way in the kitchen that night comes back to him. The slight smile, the raised chin, the way he didn’t realize that it didn’t quite reach her eyes...

“Fuck,” he whispers, and Josephine turns towards him. 

“What?” 

“I gotta go.” Bellamy throws the ball, not caring where it goes, and turns to head towards the door when someone grabs his arm. 

“Bell, you don’t—”

He stops and looks at her, pulling his arm out of her grasp. “Don’t call me that.” 

Bellamy begins making his way through the crowd, barreling his way to the door and throwing it open. The street is silent other than the music blaring in the house behind him, and any way he looks he doesn’t see anyone else. 

His heart is loud in his ears as he jogs down the steps and tries looking around some more. “Clarke!” He spins around, and nothing. “Clarke!” 

There’s fog beginning to gather on the ground, and it’s already thick as it wraps around his ankles as he looks for her.  _ How could I have been so fucking stupid? _ He jogs towards one of the stop signs, but he hasn’t gotten far when he sees a head of blonde hair stopping near it looking at her phone. 

“Clarke!” Her head wips in his direction, and Bellamy can see the pout on her lips and the way her shoulders shake in the light of her phone screen. He feels like shit. 

“Bellamy?” 

Before he can say anything, two other people come out of nowhere, running straight for her. “Clarke!” 

“Bellamy!” 

He starts running towards her, only to be pulled back by the force of someone grabbing his shirt and then then he’s on the ground. There are three people dressed in black standing above him but he pushes himself up and into them as a van comes barreling down the road and stopping where the two other men are holding Clarke. 

Bellamy sees red. He pushes and punches his way through the men surrounding him with the only thought in his mind that he has to get to Clarke. One of the guys grabs her hair and pulls her head to one side as his other arm wraps around her to hold her in place, and her eyes fine Bellamy’s as the second guy pulls out something and jabs it into her neck. 

“No!”

Arms are around him and he’s held in place as he watches the two other guys pick Clarke up and rush towards the van. Her eyes are open and looking at him, and Bellamy screams. He tries to fight, clawing and punching and shoving anything he can, but then there’s a sharp pain as something makes contact with the back of his head, and he falls to his knees. Another blow comes to his stomach and all of the breath is knocked from him as he lands face first in the grass. 

_ I have to get to Clarke. _

_ I have to get to Clarke. _

_ I have to get to Clarke. _

He tries calling out to her, but he can’t breathe. He tries to push himself up to his feet, but his vision goes white and he falls back down again. He tries and tries and tries until all he can do is push himself to his knees and watch as the van disappears down the street and into the fog.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there trying to regain his breath, or when it starts to sprinkle and he gets covered in water. But by the time his friends find him, he’s soaked and shivering.

“Dude, where the fuck have you been?” Miller says as he comes to stand beside him.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where’s Clarke?” 

“She’s gone.” The words come out raspy, but Bellamy’s mind doesn’t even process them.

“What do you mean she’s gone? Where is she?”

“She’s gone,” he repeats, and Monty’s face comes into view as his friend kneels in front of him. 

“What happened?”

“A van came and they grabbed her.” Bellamy looks up at his friend, his tears stinging his eyes but getting washed away by the rain. “I couldn’t save her.” 

“Come on,” it’s Murphy who speaks, but multiple pairs of hands wrap around his arms, “let’s get you out of here.” 

Bellamy doesn’t really process the ride home, or walking into his room, or the fact that he’s still shivering as he looks around. He can feel her everywhere here. See her colored pencils and charcoals sitting on the corner of his desk, the clothes hanging off the side of the hamper, and it’s like he can smell her shampoo despite him not laying on the pillows. 

He told her he would protect her, and then he couldn’t save her. He can hear her screaming for him, and see her limp body disappearing into the van. Her calling his name echoes in his ears, and Bellamy screams as he kicks out at his bed. The frame shakes and he can hear the crunch of wood, but then there’s the dull  _ thud _ as something lands on the carpet. 

Bellamy’s eyebrows furrow as he walks towards the side of the bed and gets down on the floor, looking under it. Sitting there wedged between the bed and the wall is the leather journal that he bought Clarke the first day he brought her to campus. He’s seen her write in it a lot over the past weeks, and the image of her wrapped up in his bed the first time she wrote in it comes back into his mind. 

The journal feels heavy in his hands, and Bellamy finds himself sitting on the floor a moment later, staring at the front of it. He never asked her what she wrote, and maybe he should have. 

He definitely should have.

Bellamy takes a deep breath as he opens the cover and begins to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me. You can yell at me down in the comments though!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx
> 
> Clarke’s face: 🥺


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finals week, but I finished up this chapter :)

Days ~~Alive~~ Here: 3

Everything feels like it’s too much. The sound of the ~~teli~~ television as it switches from one thing to another, the sound of video games being played, the air conditioner turning on, all of the information I’m expected to memorize. My head has been hurting constantly since I woke up, but after some of the medicine that Bellamy gave me, it feels a little better. Then, on top of it all, it’s like I can still feel the pressure surrounding me. Whenever I move, I expect not to be able to move again. When I breathe, I’m waiting for my lungs to feel as if all of the air is being squeezed out of them, and when I close my eyes, I expect to not open them.

Falling asleep seems to be the worst for me. I hope it will get better with time, but as of right now, the weight of the situation weighs on me as I try to sleep, and I can never seem to get away from it. I think of my mom and my dad. Of Wells and Nicholas... I think of all the people I left behind. And I wonder if my mother knew what she was doing or if this turned out worse than she expected.

Did my father know?

Did he approve of her choice?

Did they mourn me when they realized I may never wake?

What about my friends?

Did they know what happened to me or did the Queen lie and tell them that I ran off with Elijah and that I was never coming back?

All of these thoughts run through my head, and I wish they would go away. Sometimes, it hurts to think.

However, despite my own internal problems, I have to admit that the people I’m surrounded by make it bearable, and the fact that Murphy acts like Nicholas does help ease some of the pain. The other’s say that he can be an asshole, (Note to self: do not search that word ever again) but, like Nicholas, I believe he has a different way of showing that he cares about people. Miller seems very quiet, but he’ll always laugh at someone’s joke and does not seem to mind answering the questions I may have. Monty is also quiet, but he has a kind smile and he’s calming to be around. He shows me the plants in his room and explains things to me softly. Jasper, on the other hand, is like a puppy who cannot sit still, but he’s also very kind, and he seems to be very keen on trying to get me up to date on his video games. Raven is wonderful, and even though she does not do it often, her smile is brilliant. Harper is as sweet and kind as her boyfriend, and seems to be a nice middle ground between Octavia and Raven. Octavia is a whirlwind, and she seems to enjoy life more than any other person I knew. Had we met each other before, I’m sure we would have all been friends.

And then, there’s Bellamy. When I woke up for the first time, he was looking at me and I could feel my heart stop. My mother always lectured me about strangers, but she never prepared me for him. Except, he doesn’t feel like a stranger. At least, not now. It’s hard to describe, really. I woke up with his hand in mine, in a peculiar room, and even though I had no idea where I was or who I was with, I was calm. I could feel myself beginning to worry when I tried to go back to sleep, but his hand was there again, and I felt like I would be okay. I think part of why I felt that way is because he’s beautiful, to say the least. He’s unlike any person I’ve ever met before. He’s tall, with black, curly hair and tanned skin, and brown eyes that are unlike any I’ve ever seen. As I’ve said, he’s beautiful. Maybe another thing is the way he smiled at me. Out of all of the way I could have woken up, I have to say that waking up to him was the best.

It was peculiar, waking up in a place so different from the one I left. Of course, I could recognize some things but it was all so new. Then, when I looked at the boy sleeping beside the bed, I realized what had happened. It’s one thing to learn that you’re a statue when it feels like you’re dreaming but it’s an entirely different thing to wake up and look at the person who is supposed to be your soulmate. I have never seen someone so beautiful in all my life, and when I touched his hair and he woke up I had to admit that I wasn’t upset with who my soulmate turned out to be. 

I wasn’t scared when he looked at me. Is that weird? I think so. For someone in my place, I realize I should have been terrified, but I wasn’t. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I watched my parents growing up and realized that soulmates are supposed to take care of each other. Or the feeling that he was sweet. Whatever it was, I felt comfortable. Safe. Despite the fact that the life I knew was gone and was never coming back. 

2019 Two-thousand-nineteen. 

1807 Eighteen-seven. Eighteen-o-seven. 

Two hundred and twelve years. 

Two centuries, a decade, and two years. 

212.

Yet, I feel more home here than the day I ~~died~~ left. I understand that I may seem macabre, referring to the day I turned into a statue as the day I died, but it feels like a part of me did. I don’t know if I could ever tell anyone that, and I don’t want to burden Bellamy with even more of my problems, but it’s difficult. 

He’s been wonderful, though. Bellamy. He seems to understand how hard this is for me and he keeps assuring me that I don’t have to do anything I’m not comfortable with doing. Maybe his understanding is just who he is as a person or maybe it’s the fact that we’re supposed to be soulmates. It’s weird, realizing that we’re supposed to be soulmates. That we’re supposed to understand each other better than anyone else. How can you feel as if you know someone after having only met them 3 days ago? I wonder if Bellamy feels the same way. After all, it can’t be easy for him to be in this situation. 

For me, I figured out my situation during the time I was ~~gone~~ asleep, but from what I’ve been told Bellamy was just holding my hand because it was required for something with his ~~fraterneity~~ fraternity. That’s one thing, though. The two of us never believed in soulmates. Funny, isn’t it? Two people who were fated to be together never believed in fate or soulmates. It’s fitting. 

I can’t help but wonder what my parents would have thought of Bellamy. And Wells. Nicholas would have been like Murphy, so it’s easy to understand what he would have said. Wells, though...Wells would have loved him. Mainly because of the fact that Bellamy is so kind. He’s really taken everything in stride, He’s given me his bedroom and bought me this journal and a cell phone and he hasn’t complained about my crying at night. I really could not have asked for a better person to wake up to, could I? And even when I begin to doubt his willingness to help me, he’s always there to reassure me. 

It’s a lot to unpack. Isn’t it? During my time as a statue, I came to terms with the fact that my mother turned me which resulted in me losing everything I’ve ever known, and when I’m finally human again I have someone telling me that they want me here. I’m not saying that my mother didn’t want me, but sometimes it feels that way. Though, I don’t expect Bellamy to want me to be here forever. This situation is something no one else has ever experienced before, and while neither of us know what to do, there will come a time where I’ll feel comfortable to go out into the world on my own and we’ll have to figure out where we go from there. But, for now, I’m happy to stay here with him. It makes things not seem as daunting when I know he’s there with me.

Today he brought me to campus and, if I’m being honest, the thought of going was terrifying to me but, again, Bellamy was there with me. I got to go to class with the others, too, but I have to say that coming back and taking a nap was nice. With how much my head is hurting, I wonder if it will ever go away. Looking at Bellamy as he works on his school work makes me wonder how his head doesn’t hurt as much. As a statue my head never hurt. But I would never want to experience that again. 

Something else I do not think I ever want to experience again is seeing pictures of other girls on Bellamy’s phone. That’s...a lot to process when you’re not expecting it. Murphy explained it to me, so I understand now. Still, it was surprising. But while I understand, it still seems weird to me. Why would you send pictures of yourself to someone instead of just going to see them? Elijah and I were never together in that way, even though we claimed to love each other, but Murphy explained that people today will send pictures and ~~videoes~~ videos to one another when they find the other attractive. So, it’s understandable why Bellamy has pictures of others on his phone. He is like a walking piece of art.

~

Days ~~Alive~~ Here: 4

I learned something today. 

The power going out makes it seem like I’m changing.

The darkness, the pressure, the inescapable feeling of terror, all consumed me.

Even when the lights were back on I still couldn’t move and it was hard to breathe. It’s absolutely terrifying. It;s like I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying around me, even though I knew they were talking to me, until I heard Bellamy’s voice. He told me that he would never let anything happen to me, but even I know that some can’t always keep their promises.

I don’t ever want to experience that again.

On a different note, last night Bellamy and I stayed up talking and getting to know each other better. Jasper told me about a game called 20 questions and that’s what we did. I’ve learned his full name, his favorite color, why he likes history-which he attributes to his mother-and he told me about his childhood. It wasn’t easy, from what he’s told me, but the way he smiles when he talks about his family tells me that he loved his childhood. As he should. His mother, Aurora, seems like an amazing woman and Octavia has already shown herself to be headstrong and smart, which makes her a force to be reckoned with. One day I hope I can meet the woman who raised two wonderful children. 

I told him about my parents and how they met, though I must admit that thinking about my parents isn’t exactly easy. Neither is thinking about my friends. I know, eventually, I’ll tell him more about Wells, Nicholas, and Marina, but I have to admit that I would rather avoid the topic of Elijah. Even though it’s been over two hundred years, I’m still upset with him. It’s his fault that I became a statue to begin with. 

But, Bellamy taught me how to throw a football today :) It’s weird how it’s called “football” when in reality they use their hands. That makes absolutely no sense to me. It was fun, though, and Bellamy is a very good teacher. He’s also a very good football player. I don’t think I could throw the ball that far if I tried. 

~

Days ~~A~~ Here: 5

Today, Bellamy and I went to the movies and then we went food shopping. I didn’t realize just how much food was available today. Bellamy told me that I could pick whatever I wanted and when we got home we made cookies, though the others looked at us weird when I told them that we went to the theatre. I’m not sure why and Bellamy did not tell me. 

The movie was fun. It was scary, but he told me that before we went. I would like to believe that I’m getting used to things now, but others driving still worries me. 

Thinking about all of the inventions that have been made to improve people’s lives today, I can’t help but think about my father. He always did his best to make his people's lives better, but even he couldn’t have expected this. But, as I think about it, I begin to wonder what has become of alchemy. There is chemistry, which Jasper is amazing at, but what of what Becca did?

Are there still others who practice what she did? 

Do people know about them?

It’s a weird subject, isn’t it? That something that changed my life would just fade from existence. But, I suppose I’m here. Aren’t I? 

Perhaps I’m the only evidence left. 

~

Days Here: 7

Tonight the guys went to a party and I got to spend time with Octavia, Raven, and Harper, but then Bellamy came back sick...

~

Days Here: 22

Why am I angry? Why do I feel hurt? It doesn’t make any sense.

Does it?

Tonight Bellamy told me that he kissed someone when he went to the party two weeks ago. I told him that we weren’t together so it was fine but that I appreciated him telling me, and I do, but why do I feel this way? I believe everything I said. We are not dating. We are not together. We are friends and yet I can’t shake the feeling within my chest.

Is it jealousy? 

How could I possibly be jealous of a girl I don’t know? When I found the pictures of other girls on his phone I didn’t feel this way. So, why do I feel this way now? Nothing has happened between us. There is no logical reason as to why I feel this way and I wish I could figure it out.

When I caught Elijah with another, I was hurt. Angry. I felt heartbroken. Yet, somehow, what I feel now almost seems worse. Again, it doesn’t make any sense. Why should I care if he’s made out with someone else? I’ve only been here for three weeks, it’s not like we’re best friends. We’re friends. Even if we sleep in bed with each other more often than naught. I honestly can’t remember the last time I didn’t sleep in bed with him. Maybe the first night he brought me here?

I wonder if Bellamy feels the same way. After he told me everything went on how it usually does, and he even gave me his shirt to get in the pool before that, and we stayed up talking for as long as I could before I fell asleep. Everything was good, so why do I feel as if I’m ruining it by being angry? 

I just wish I understood WHY. It just doesn’t make sense to me. 

~

Days Here: 30

I met Bellamy’s mom tonight, and I absolutely love her.

Ms. Aurora is wonderful and seeing her act like a mom with everyone else was amazing to see. She has so much respect from the people in this house, she almost reminds me of my mother. Except I do not believe Ms. Aurora is as cold as mine...

~

Days Here: 45

Bellamy brought me to campus today and I got to meet one of his friends, Roan. I’m not sure what it is about him, since he seems nice enough, maybe it’s his height, but I was very nervous. Octavia told me about him and said that he could be intimidating, but I didn’t realize just how much. Bellamy said I did a good job talking to him, though. So there is that. 

Bellamy, on the other hand, seemed as nervous as I did. He also seemed like he wanted to turn Roan into a little pile of ash…

~

Days Here: 49

The tailgate was fun, but I hope I didn’t ruin his time when we got back home. He made me a sandwich and brought me water without complaining, so maybe I’m just overthinking it.

On the bright side, I believe I’m getting better in crowds. Raven let me help her in beer pong and Octavia never left my side, and I also met a girl named Josephine…

~

Days Here: 52

Bellamy and I went to the movies again, but everyone else came with us this time. Apparently going to the movies is common for a first date. I asked Jasper if ever brought anyone, though going to the movies seems like it would be a wonderful first date. I should ask Bellamy if he’s ever brought his dates to the movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that I didn't write EVERYTHING down and maybe one day I'll regret that, but I like how this turned out :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, please don't be mad at me for being gone for so long <3

_Nothing. There is nothing._

_There is black but nothing else._

_The air doesn’t feel cold or hot and there is no light to tell whether the sun is up, or the moon. The senses do no good in a place where there is nothing to sense. No sound, no sight, no sm_ _—well, there is smell. But it’s a weird smell. It smells...clean. Not in the way in a bath does, but something—_

Bright lights shine through Clarke’s eyelids and she gasps as she tries to open them. It’s blinding and everything just seems _white_ , but she blinks a couple of times to try and get used to it. She can hear the sound of footsteps entering the room and the sound of clothes _swishing_ together, but try as she might she can’t make out any of the people that are beginning to surround her. 

“Rise and shine,” a female voice says. It doesn’t sound familiar, but it also doesn’t sound like it belongs to someone much older than herself. 

Clarke tries to blink her eyes open again, and this time the haziness disappears slightly. She can make out the fact that she’s in a white room, on a stiff bed, with blinding white lights and the people surrounding her are wearing white, too. Honestly, she’s never seen so much of one color in the same space. 

She tries to open her mouth to speak, but there’s nothing. Her voice never comes and her throat works but it feels like sandpaper. _What happened to me? Am I hurt? Where_ —Bellamy’s face comes into her mind. His dark eyes wide as he runs towards her. Her name echoes in her ears as he yells for her, and then there’s a sharp pain in her neck. She watches as he falls to the ground from having been hit in the back of his head and how he struggles against the people holding onto him. Even so, she can see him still trying to make his way towards her. Then, there’s blackness.

 _Bellamy_.

“Oh, is she awake?” Another voice calls, but this time Clarke _does_ know who she is. It takes Clarke a moment to focus on the other girl’s face, but then brown eyes and an icy smile are staring back at her. 

Josephine’s hair is down except for a bit on the top that’s been pulled back by bobby pins and she smirks as she crosses her arms over her chest. Clarke’s head hurts, as does her chest, and her body feels like it’s been covered in weights, pulling her down towards the bed. 

_What happened to me?_ She tries to ask, but, once again, her voice doesn’t come even as her lips form the words. 

Another girl appears to her left, looking like she’s about the same as both Clarke and Josephine, and she holds out a small paper cup with a straw in it. Clarke turns her head away from the straw that’s coming towards her lips, glaring at the girl, but the other only smiles slightly.

“It’s water. You must be thirsty.”

 _God_ is she. Clarke looks from the dark-haired girl’s face, to the cup, and back again, and after a moment she tilts her head up as far as she can and wraps her lips around the straw. The water isn’t cold, but it’s not exactly warm either, and Clarke sips on it until her stomach begins to hurt and there’s no more left in the cup. Her mouth and throat don’t hurt as much as they did, but the water doesn’t do much for how hungry she feels.

Josephine’s arms are still crossed over her chest as she looks down at her, and the woman from earlier, a dark-haired woman in a long white coat is looking at the machines next to Clarke’s bed. The pit of despair that’s been growing inside of her deepens. 

Clarke doesn’t know what any of those things are. She doesn’t know where she is. She doesn't know who any of these people are aside from Josephine but it’s clear that she won’t be any help. Like her first day awake, she doesn’t understand anything, but this time Bellamy isn’t here to tell her. 

_Bellamy._

“So, Clarke,” Josephine begins, pulling up a chair and then turning it around and sitting on it backwards, “do you know why you’re here?” 

Clarke levels her gaze at the other girl, recalling all of the training she had before she was turned. “Enlighten me.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Clarke says nothing. She can assume why she’s here. Why she was taken at night with no one else around. Anyone could figure out _why_ she’s here, but the real question is why Josephine was the one who took her. And where she took her. From inside the room she’s in, she doesn’t know where she could be, because she’s never seen anything like it. 

She and Josephine look at each other, neither of them saying anything, and after a moment Josephine leans back with her arms still on the back of the chair. “Come one, Clarke,” she says, the corner of her mouth turning up, “you’re supposed to be smart. Tell me, why are you here?”

“You know who I am.”

Josephine raises one of her eyebrows. “Anything else?” Clarke looks at her, trying to keep from shivering as the cold from the room begins to seep through the blanket that’s laying on top of her. “Give up?”

Clarke says nothing. 

“Fine. I’ll tell you a story.”

Clarke keeps her face blank as the other blonde leans forward, the smirk never leaving Josephine’s face as they look at each other. From how she’s acting, Clarke suspects that there’s going to be more that happens to her than just laying in a bed, but some part of her can’t help but wonder if Bellamy is trying to find her.

The memory of him fighting to get to her comes back and a lump forms in her throat as she thinks about it. She couldn’t move or call out to him...helpless as she watched him get beaten. _Bellamy, you have to be okay._ Her heart lurches in her chest for a third time and tears threaten to pool in her eyes as she tries to blink through them. _Bellamy…_

“Once upon a time, there was an alchemist named Becca,” Josephine begins, and her voice brings Clarke out of her head as she looks towards her. “She was brilliant at her work, even if some people called her a sorceress and a witch. Then, one day she was called to a kingdom where the queen wanted to protect her daughter. So, Becca, being the badass she was, did something that had never been done before. She turned the girl into stone as the queen asked and declared that only her soulmate would be able to wake the sleeping princess.”

Clarke’s heart skips a beat.

“But, something happened that the queen didn’t think of. No one was able to wake her daughter. In despair she and her husband brought everyone they could from all across the country to hold the princess’s hand, but no one could wake her. So, Becca was tried as a witch and burned at the stake for doing the job she was asked to do. And Becca, with her last breath, vowed to wipe Arkadia off the map. So, today, there is nothing that remains of Arkadia of their princess, and the only thing that Becca left of herself was a son, who promised to follow her greatest work, waiting for the day she would wake up to her soulmate’s touch. Now, here we are.”

Clarke can only stare at the other girl. _She’s...Becca’s..._ Suddenly, fear grips Clarke’s chest like a vice, squeezing until it feels like she can’t breathe as the corners of her vision go black. _This can’t be happening_. She tries to keep her breathing steady, but her hands are beginning to sweat and sweat begins to form at her hairline. _No. This can’t—_

“Figured it out?” Josephine smiles then, and Clarke can see the ice and malice behind it. 

“Why?” Clarke croaks, her ability to keep her voice steady having abandoned her, and Josephine’s eyes spark as she stands from the chair.

“Like I said. Becca’s son vowed to follow your statue where you went, and it was the same for his son, and then his granddaughter. All the way down to me. We’ve waited over two hundred years for you to wake up, and now you have.”

“What do you plan to do with me?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Josephine’s smile doesn’t leave her face as she walks towards the door. “But, I think I have a few things in mind.”

With a wink over her shoulder, Josephine opens the door then disappears, leaving Clarke staring after her from the bed. _She has a few things in mind?_ Clarke can’t begin to wonder what that means, but then her mind drifts back to the night the lights went out at the house and she thought she was being turned into a statue again.

_“I’m not going to let anything like that happen to you again.”_

Bellamy’s voice echoes in her ears and it’s almost like she can feel his arms being wrapped around her as she tries to fall asleep. All of the time they’ve spent together has been the best she could have ever asked for. The late nights, going to class with him, trying new food, watching T.V., having her first beer...but, then, she remembers.

_“Because I don’t want you here.”_

Once again, it feels like she can’t breathe as she tries to drag air into her lungs. _Had he really said that to me?_ She knows he did, but a part of her doesn’t want to believe it. _Why would he tell me that?_ She doesn’t know what happened to make Bellamy respond that way to her.

She tries to think back on the night before _—was it last night? How long have I been asleep?_ She pushes that thought out of her head, choosing to just ask the next person that comes into her room if they can tell her the date, and moves back to thinking about Bellamy.

Clarke remembers seeing him at the beer pong table with Josephine, and she had let Raven bring her towards the pool table, but she didn’t know how to play. She was fine with just sitting back and watching her friend play, but there were so many people around her. A lot of them asking her if she was new in town and others placing their hand on her waist or her shoulder, which usually got stopped by Raven. But, then there was Dax.

Raven had handed her the pool stick while she went to get drinks and when she returned Dax showed up behind Clarke. He leaned in and asked her if she wanted him to show her how to play, which surprised her at first, but then she nodded her head. It _did_ seem like fun. He showed her how to hold the stick, and then walked her through how to set up her shot, but when it was over Clarke wanted to get away from him. He was too close for comfort, as were a lot of other people at that party, and she couldn’t help but wonder how to get to Bellamy.

When she finally did, though, he was upset with her. 

_Was he upset that Dax tried to show me how to play the game?_

Could that have been it? It wouldn’t have made any sense, though. They’re not dating, they’re friends. Not to mention that she wasn’t making out with someone the way Bellamy claimed he was the time he went to a party without her. How could he be upset with her after _that?_

_Was he jealous?_

Again, how could he be? He’s made out with other girls, and one person tried to show her how to play a game. It’s not like she was flirting with Dax or even wanting to be around him all that much. Not to mention that he was playing beer pong with _Josephine—_

_Did he know?_

The thought is in her head before she can stop it, but she tries to take in a deep breath. _He tried to save me. So, he must not have known what she was planning. Why was she at the party in the first place? Maybe she didn’t want anyone to realize that she’s behind me disappearing…_

But, try as she might to not think about Bellamy, of course all she can see is him fighting to get to her. She can hear his voice carry through the night sky as his brown eyes stay pinned on her, and then she flinches when the memory of something being stabbed into her neck comes back.

_Bellamy...what happened to me?_

Now, tears sting her eyes as she lays there, looking up at the white ceiling. _Will he be able to find me?_ She thinks about how she doesn’t even know if he’s okay. A sob breaks through her chapped lips as she lays there, her hands fisting in the sheets. _I can’t cry. Not right now._ But, it’s no use. 

Once the first hot tear slides down her cheek, she can’t stop the rest of them. Her heart breaks. She thinks about her mom and her dad, the kingdom and friends she left behind, and the guy she loves who got hurt trying to protect her how he promised he would. All of the people she’s loved have been ripped away from her, and now she feels like she’s alone in the world, not just the white room she’s in. 

Clarke rolls onto her side, curling in on herself like her first night after waking up when Bellamy crawled into bed beside her. Her heart feels like it’s been ripped out of her chest, leaving nothing but pain and misery behind. She’s cried for her family so much, but she never knew what happened to them. Now, she does. Their existence was wiped from history, which would explain why the history teacher didn’t know about their contributions to some of England’s wars. Her father, the greatest man she’s known, has been forgotten. 

Now, she knows that they did try to bring her back, but they couldn’t. All because her mother believed she was doing what was best for her daughter. She thinks about Wells and Nicholas, wondering if they were killed during a war or if they had to pick up their lives and start new somewhere else. 

She thinks about Bellamy and wonders if he blames himself for her being taken, and she’s not there to tell him otherwise. She also thinks about one of the nights a couple of weeks ago when they both had a little to drink and he told her that he was sorry for not finding her sooner. She told him that he couldn’t have known, but he had already fallen asleep.

It all becomes too much for her to bear and her sobs echo in the room. She doesn’t try to cover her mouth, or do anything to lessen the sound of her crying. The pain threatens to consume her like her first night with Bellamy, but this time he isn’t there to help her.

And she doesn’t know if he ever will be again. 

~

She must cry herself to sleep because the next time she wakes up, it's to the sound of the door to her room opening and closing and just when she thinks it's Josephine, it’s not. It’s a guy, dressed in white like the other people she saw, but he’s carrying a tray of food. 

Clarke’s eyes feel swollen, as does her face, and she stays huddled in her bed as she watches the man move to put the tray on the table beside the bed. His head is shaved, save for a strip in the middle, and his skin is dark against the white of his clothes. He looks over at her, his dark eyes feeling as though they’re searing into her face as his eyebrows furrow together, and Clarke huddles under her thin blanket even more, shivering.

“Are you cold?” 

His voice is low, like how the brunette spoke earlier, and Clarke can barely force herself to nod her head as she stares at him. 

“I’ll bring you another blanket.”

She watches him go, pinned to her place on the bed. _He seems nice like the girl who gave me the water. But how nice can they be if they’re working here?_ The guy returns with a blanket in his hands and Clarke blinks at him a couple of times before reaching out a shaking hand and taking the blanket from him. 

Her eyes find his nametag. _Lincoln_. His hand falls when the blanket is fully in her hand, and then he looks towards the food. “If you don’t like what’s on the tray then we can try and find something else for you to eat.”

Still, Clarke says nothing, but she nods her head slowly after a moment, and Lincoln nods his head, too, before turning towards the door. She watches him disappear out of the door how Josephine did earlier, but she stays wrapped up in the blanket in her bed.

Her food gets cold, and she knows it’s getting cold, but she still doesn’t move to eat anything. She stays in bed, trying to breathe through the pain in her body before she drifts off to sleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy Clarke's pov? Does this make up for me being gone for so long? I'd love to hear from you!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx

**Author's Note:**

> I always love your comments and kudos! xx
> 
> You can find me on...
> 
> Tumblr: xxawalkinwonderlandxx  
> Twitter: awalknwonderlnd


End file.
